So excited to be participating in a joint project between the Rockhampton Museum of Art and Capricornia Printmakers. The RMOA has an enviable collection of modern art, and this is at the centre of the project.
Participating artists were asked to select a piece of art to inspire an artwork of our own. I chose Paper Clip Suite II, 4 (1974) by Richard Smith. Here is a similar one in the Tate Collection:
Richard Smith was a UK artist, mainly working in New York. His remarkable body of work pushes the boundaries of ‘painting’ as a form by making his materials and processes evident, and by doing so drawing attention to its presence as a three-dimensional object.
I was immediately drawn to the work’s layers, and the lithograph’s resemblance to a quilt block. As I have worked through samples and interpretations in my sketch book, I have become more and more engaged with Smith’s concept. He subverted and challenged ‘painting’ as a form; how can I challenge and subvert textile forms? How can I make the processes and materials evident in these forms? For example, how the layers of a quilt are made.
It’s exciting work, and my journal is filling with ideas and textile samples! I won’t show you any samples, yet, as I have not settled on a direction for the final piece. I am still very much exploring.
The exhibition is scheduled for February 2024. Watch this space.
Kathryn Kerr 