Samara Adamson-Pinczewski

Samara Adamson-Pinczewski

Jane O’Neill

during studio visit, 1 November 2021 To view these works at McClelland, we must first pass by larger forms—sculptures by icons of Australian modernism such as Norma Redpath and Inge King. If travelling by car, we might see public commissions by well-respected artists such Emily Floyd, Louise Paramor or Manon van Kouswijk. By virtue of the context in which these works by Samara Adamson-Pinczewski are exhibited, it is impossible not to imagine them in a much larger form.

The Around the Corner series is a recent progression from the artist’s two-dimensional painting practice which itself is informed by the spatial relationships between objects. With a proliferation of angles, both curved and oblique, the forms of these sculptures can be readily understood as both architectural yet faceted like a jewel. There is a sequence of shifts between scales, both in the way the works are constructed and in how we read them visually. In the first stage of production, the sculptures are configured with Arches paper and paint before undergoing a transformation in scale through 3-D printing.

In the gallery setting, the sculptures appear as maquettes for architectural forms. The title Around the corner invites inspection of surfaces in ways that we might navigate a building. At times voids open unexpectedly to the light whilst others lead to a closure. The artist describes how:

I often use multiple angles and iridescent materials in my work because they communicate feelings of movement and transience. Through creating irregular spatial structures, the viewer is prompted to experience different angles and in turn activate colour shifts by walking around the work.1

There are also pronounced curves, echoing the silhouettes of instruments and the historical legacy of Cubism. In many of the formal components the vibrations of modernism are never far, with the most striking influence of Russian Constructivism. Yet the colours signal a new universe of unexpected shades such as fuchsia, iridescent blue or magenta layered against a backdrop of soft pearlescent shades of white. The artist describes how the process mostly follows a progression from lighter colours to dark, and during this time each colour, along with the number of coats required to finish, is documented and recorded. For AdamsonPinczewski, colour might be found in the most unexpected places, including the historical archives of Frank Stella who was known to purchase out-of-season decorator paint for one dollar a gallon.

Embedded within these works is a family history of recycling scrap metal; a high degree of sensitivity to colour; and many adventurous voyages to architectural sites and museums. An avid walker and observer of modernism in Melbourne, the artist’s own pedestrian engagement with the world informs the title for the series. Whether travelling or walking locally, Adamson-Pinczewski is closely engaged in the observation of how the human figure interacts with architectural spaces. For the artist, space is something that unfolds through active participation and continually shifts according to the light.