MICHELLE CAWTHORN | A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF CONCENTRATION

Curator and artist Dr. Daniel Mudie-Cunningham notes, “Michelle Cawthorn’s sensual and intriguing work comes into its own, expressing conviction and maturity as she observes the passing of time in works melding figuration and abstraction. Her practice grapples with the tensions of autobiography, especially as it collides with the necessary selfinvention an artist must assert through creating unique visual forms.”

The intuitive, the subjective, the intimate hatched mark-making, finely detailed with archival ink pens (a legacy from architecture studies), the tactile washes in water-based media, are all features of Cawthorn’s mesmeric works on paper and canvas.

The Olsen Gallery title A Momentary lapse in Concentration refers as much to the fact that when the artist is working on the drawings, she cannot make mistakes, because each hatched line informs the slant of the next and ink is indelible impossible to correct […] creating amulet and talisman-like shapes, healing and protecting her practice, and ensuring visibility for this quietly powerful artist.

Courtney Kidd, Artist Profile issue 64

Michelle Cawthorn Amulet, 2023 Archival pen, acrylic, and white Flashe on Hahnemühle paper

paper

Cawthorn Kin, 2023

pen, acrylic, and white Flashe on Hahnemühle paper

Michelle Cawthorn Rosewater II, 2022 Archival pen, watercolour and acrylic on Hanhnemühle paper