Letter and text as image
The relationship between the written word and the visual image has a long, illustrious and yet rather obliquely noted history, flourishing here and there in different ways – the illuminated mediaeval manuscript, the fantastic arabesques of Koranic illustration, the Chinese painted ideogram (itself originally an image) and here in New Zealand the transcendent epigraphs of Colin McCahon. In this exhibition at Two Rooms, it becomes the central theme.
“I research into the structures of language and use it to demonstrate how meanings can roliferate, making artworks that engage with the politics of history and site. Text is the constant feature in my work and I explore the metaphoric, material and visual qualities of language in a range of media for site specific installations. I am currently producing artworks utilizing the conventions of signage, particularly neon, for exhibition both private and public domains. The works challenge established readings by conflating the materiality of phosphorus tubing with the connotations of the words depicted and reflexively incorporating the viewer into the work”
Mary Louise Browne
“Imagine the water that pools in the well of an inkstone as a lake where an image resides as a haunting genius loci. Imagine the ledge of an inkstone where a tablet of dry pigment usually sits as the place where language presides. Imagine how that language might exist with out any mirror-image in the lake, and how eventually they discover each other and recognise each other”
Denis O’Connor
Fiona Banner
www.fionabanner.com
Rose Nolan, Mikala Dwyer
www.hamishmckaygallery.com