WAIKATO’S HOME OF FINE ART
a gallery
member of
Mo Stewart
I am interested in the relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind. My work seeks a means of expressing the unconscious while engaging it in relation to conscious art making strategies.
My paintings are process-based and explore surrealist and abstract expressionist techniques such as automatic drawing, contrasted with deliberate mark making. The process of making repetitive marks opens a space for immersion, meditation and contemplation. My work emphasises the tension and balance between chance and the considered, mediating a space between them.
Recently, the space between dream and waking consciousness has become an elusive friend of mine. While lying awake – with curtains drawn and eyes shut to the world, yet no sign of sleep in sight – I am drawn to a light which keeps appearing behind my eyelids. This shifting light is soft pink and blue, sometimes purple and bright yellow, advancing towards me and then disappearing once again. This exhibition is an attempt to manifest that light from within.