The exploration of still life is the focus of two new solo exhibitions set to open at the Tweed Regional Gallery next week.
The work of Gold Coast artists Linda Kruger and Natali Popovski and how each explores different approaches to the still life genre will be on display from Friday 15 July.
In her exhibition Vessel, Linda Kruger celebrates colour, the beauty of interiors and the play of the familiar and mysterious in everyday objects. The works in this exhibition invite the viewer to pay close attention to their compositional elements and any histories or associations they may conjure.
“When I first contemplated this exhibition just over a year ago, I’d begun my exploration of very simple, pared back vessel forms – vases, bottles, cups, bowls,” Kruger said.
“Over time I’ve continued to be drawn to these simple forms that are primarily functional and yet they also possess a mysterious, enigmatic quality.”
Natalie Popovski doesn’t refer to her artworks as still lifes, rather she calls them ‘indirect portraits’. However, these aren’t traditional portraits either.
Instead, the paintings depict her subject’s ‘stuff’ – the seemingly insignificant corners of mess you’re unaware you keep. The artist says these things “say a lot about your beliefs, your personality and your rituals”.
Her exhibition Absorption features the ‘indirect portraits’ of many well-known Tweed locals, however there was no strict criteria as to who the artist asked to be a subject – “They just had to be interesting,” Popovski said.
“Some of these people I knew prior but most were complete strangers who I convinced to let me peer into their homes with the email subject: ‘May I paint you?’ As it turns out, few people say no to being a muse.”
