FIGURE & GROUND
R OY JA C K S O N & PAU L S E LW O O D
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Rock Body’. Patinated Steel, 71x129x21.5cm. 2015
“Rocks are fallen ancestors, c o u n t r y i s a b o d y,
to travel is to journey
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b e s i d e a n i m a t e a n c e s t o r s.
A L I S O N R AV E N S C RO F T Author of The Postcolonial Eye
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Rock Forms’. Patinated Steel, 18.5x33.5x9cm. 2015
F E L L OW T R AV E L L E R S I N A S O F T- R E D C O U N T RY L a s t ye a r i n Au g u s t , Pa u l S e l wo o d e x p l o r e d t h e s p e c t a c u l a r i n d i ge n o u s c o u n t r y o f t h e C e n t r a l D e s e r t . Tr a v e l l i n g w e s t a l o n g t h e L a r a p i n t a t r a i l h e f e l t t h e a n c i e n t f e a t u r e s of the land, the eroded river gorges, folded sand hills and ridge-lines that together for m the geological backbone of the MacDonnell mountain ranges.
S e l wo o d ’s i n s t i n c t i ve f e e l i n g f o r m e t a p h o r i c f o r m b a s e d o n f o l l ow i n g t h e l i n e o f the countr y is powerfully realised by “Hill For ms” (page 12) one of his vibrant new s c u l p t u r e s i n s p i r e d b y t h e r e s i d e n c y a t R a f t G a l l e r y.
These sculptures are a new development from the psychologically contained and European ideal of enclosed gardens and architectural spaces evident in his previous work. This work explores figure and ground, and embodies an expression of deser t s p a c e s , i t s c o l o u r, l i n e a r r hy t h m s , va s t h o r i z o n s a n d t e m p o r a l d i m e n s i o n s o f geological and mythic time. Selwood explains, “I wanted to see how that land felt a s a s c u l p t o r f e e l s t h i n g s . I w a n t e d t o f e e l t h a t l a n d s c a p e i n m y b o d y, t h e s p a c i a l / t e m p o r a l h o r i z o n t a l i t y, t h e g r a v i t a s , t h e w e i g h t o f i t a n d t o s e e i f a n d h o w I c o u l d e x p r e s s t h e s e f e e l i n g s a s s c u l p t u r e .” 1
These are some of the aesthetic intuitions he shares with his friend, the painter R oy J a c k s o n . J a c k s o n l ove d t o c a m p a n d p a i n t i n n a t u r e a n d a l w ay s s t r i ve d f o r a naturalness and aliveness in his paintings. He described this experience as 1: Email notes from Paul Selw ood
ROY JACKSON: ‘Untitled’. 353. 97 x 126.5cm, acrylic on paper mounted on canvas. 1991-3
“ I t ’s r i g h t t h e r e w i t h yo u a n d yo u ’r e a p a r t o f i t a n d i t ’s a p a r t o f yo u ” . 2 T h e b a t h i n g f i g u r e s i n J a c k s o n ’s “ B l u e L a go o n ” p a i n t i n g p e r f e c t l y c o m m u n i c a t e h i s d e s i r e t o convey “a happening , an experience, a living moment”.3
Jackson fell in love with
w i l d e r n e s s c o u n t r y a s a yo u n g m a n wh e n h e f i r s t v i s i t e d C e n t r a l Au s t r a l i a i n 1 9 6 7 . From then on he searched out remote places of spiritual significance where he felt c l o s e t o i n s p i r a t i o n a n d n a t u r e . “A t n i g h t t h e e n d l e s s s t a r s , b y d a y t h e e n d l e s s l a n d , b o t h f i l l e d w i t h s t o r i e s a n d v i s i o n s ’’ , h e w r o t e i n h i s n o t e b o o k , a f t e r t r a v e l l i n g t h e Mereenie loop road in 1994.
He had a life-long interest in Aboriginal art, especially the Quinkan rock art of C a p e Yo r k wh i c h h e f i r s t e x p l o r e d i n 1 9 8 9 . “ H e r e o n e w a l k s t h r o u g h a l a n d s c a p e o f towering rocks, valley creeks and open forest in which people have lived and left t r a c e s o f t h e i r p a s s i n g i n p a i n t e d r o c k s h e l t e r s o v e r t e n s o f t h o u s a n d s o f y e a r s .” That these ochre painted figures are imbedded and cr ystallised into the texture of the rock surface over eons of time deeply impressed him.
For Jackson and Selwood drawing was essential to the process of making painting a n d s c u l p t u r e . B o t h e m p l oye d d r aw i n g i n a n e x p r e s s i ve , o r ga n i c w ay t h a t c a p t u r e d t h e i r s e n s e - i m p r e s s i o n s o f n a t u r e . J a c k s o n ’s l ove o f t h e p r i m a l m a r k a n d p a i n t i n g w i t h t r a n s p a r e n t p i g m e n t s a n d l aye r i n g c a m e f r o m h i s f e e l i n g f o r t h e r aw d r y n e s s of the bush and his desire to paint “as close as possible to the earth, to paint with t h e e a r t h .” 4 2 : A l l quot e s by Roy Jac k s on f r om ‘Roy Jackson Hands On’, M. Bassendine ANU Drill Hall Galler y. P.27 3: P.28
4: P.78
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Waterhole’. Painted Steel, 28x50x20cm. 2015
S e l wo o d ’s s c u l p t u r e s h ave b e e n s u b t l y p a i n t e d w i t h r a d i a n t c o l o u r s o f n a t u r e , i r o n - r e d s a n d p u r p l e s o f q u a r t z i t e r o c k , c e r u l e a n s k i e s , s p i n i f e x gr e e n s a n d ye l l ow ochres to enliven the textural qualities of his metaphorical images.
H i s l i n e d r aw i n g s a r e a l s o a w ay o f d i s c ove r i n g f o r m by t r a c i n g t h e i r r e g u l a r p r o f i l e of a mountain range or the patter ns inherent in the sinuous over lapping planes of rock chasms. Using scissors, Selwood cut and folded these fault lines on paper to make maquettes in three dimensions.
He draws directly onto steel with chalk before cutting and welding the metal.
His
e x p l o r a t o r y d r aw i n g i s a k i n t o t h e d a z z l i n g a n d r aw ‘ h a n d ’s - o n ’ q u a l i t y o f R oy J a c k s o n ’s f i g u r a t i o n , a n i n s i g h t f u l b a l a n c e o f t h i n k i n g a n d f e e l i n g , i n t e n t i o n a n d i m p u l s e t h a t g i v e s J a c k s o n ’ s p a i n t i n g s s u c h i n t e n s i t y, p r e s e n c e a n d e f f o r t l e s s n e s s , a n d S e l wo o d ’s s c u l p t u r e t h e i r s o n o r o u s m o n u m e n t a l i t y a n d b a l a n c e .
For both ar tists there is a deep appreciation for “the movement and gestures of the b o d y, f e e l i n g s o f s p a t i a l i t y a n d h u m a n p e r c e p t i o n o f t h i n g s a n d o t h e r s , t h e s e a r e p r i m o r d i a l a n d c o n s t a n t .” A s J a c k s o n ’ s f r i e n d , B r i t i s h a r t i s t R o y O x l a d e d e s c r i b e d , “ Drawings and sculptures which create for m through a body inspired language, invite t h e v i ewe r t o s h a r e t h e e q u i va l e n t s o f p hy s i c a l m ove m e n t a n d s p a t i a l o r i e n t a t i o n . H a r m o ny o r d i s s o n a n c e w i l l b e f e l t a c c o r d i n g t o a b a l a n c e o r i m b a l a n c e o f v i r t u a l p h y s i c a l f o r c e s .” 5
S e l wo o d ’s “ R e d H i l l s ” ( p a ge 2 4 ) p l ay s w i t h r hy t h m i c a l f o r m a n d
5 : Roy Oxlad e , ‘A r t and Ins t i nct’: Selected w ritings of Roy Oxlade Zigguarat Books, 2010. P.150
ROY JACKSON: ‘Untitled’. B75. 76 x 91cm, acrylic on paper on canvas. 1991-3
suggests the creative forces that must have pushed up rippling geological for mations during the primordial Cambrian era.
“ L o o k a t a ny i n s p i r e d p a i n t i n g . I t ’s l i ke a go n g s o u n d i n g ; i t p u t s yo u i n t o a s t a t e o f r eve r b e r a t i o n ” , a s t h e A m e r i c a n p a i n t e r P h i l i p G u s t o n n o t e d . 6 S o t o o d o J a c k s o n ’s paintings, which resonate with a spontaneity that springs from his exuberant br ush work and the intensity of his imaginative powers. They have an expressive linear r hy t h m t o t h e i r s t r u c t u r e , a n d a f l u i d l i ve l i n e s s i n t h e i r m a k i n g , a s c o l o u r a n d transparent br ush marks over lap revealing his absorption in the process of painting. For Jackson the act of painting was as Guston felt it, ‘ a possessing rather than a picturing’, as Jackson explained “the song coming through this body has a slightly different pitch and range”.
These paintings grew organically from the ground up
with the first brush strokes. Surfaces are a palimpsest of shifting, loosely brushed l aye r s o f c o l o u r s p a i n t e d we t i n we t s o m e t i m e s o b s c u r i n g e a r l i e r l i n e d r aw i n g w i t h sweeping gestures of the br ush.
I n t o t h i s dy n a m i c gr o u n d J a c k s o n ’s l i n e s a r t i c u l a t e a p r i va t e d i a r y o f e m o t i o n s , signs, and configurations.
Floating letters, Pali Buddhist incantations, fragmenting
messages, intimate musings, and remembered dreams are some of the references he drew into the strata of paint. Auspicious symbols abound and include weaving motifs, profile heads with extruding tongues, hearts and breasts, mountains, bells and clouds. 6 : M us a M aye r ‘N ig ht S t ud io’: A M e moir of Philip Guston Thames and Hudson Ltd, London 1991. P.62
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Hill Forms’. Painted Steel, 38x65x14cm. 2014
An outlined image of a bird perched on a branch leaps out with the star tling clarity of a haiku poem. These figurations are drawn with an intense penetrating obser vation that J a c k s o n e m p l o ye d w h e n h i s e ye t u r n e d o u t w a r d i n t o n a t u r e , i n t o t h e r hy t h m i c a l a n d tightly woven network of tree branches and sensations of dappled light and atmosphere t h a t s u r r o u n d e d h i s b u s h s t u d i o . A t o t h e r t i m e s t h e m i n d ’s e ye t u r n e d i n w a r d , t o a l l o w the reflective, meditating mind to flow and move the energ y of the br ush.
F o r a n e x h i b i t i o n a t Wa t t e r s G a l l e r y i n 1 9 9 2 J a c k s o n s u b - t i t l e d t h i s r e l a t e d g r o u p of paintings as, ‘the body is in the wor ld but the wor ld is in the head”, a quote he a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e w r i t e r Pa u l Au s t e r. T h i s p h r a s e i s a p r o f o u n d a n d p o e t i c d e s c r i p t i o n o f i n n e r c o n s c i o u s n e s s t h a t r e l a t e s t o b o t h a r t i s t s . S e l wo o d ’s a b i l i t y t o c o n c e p t u a l i s e t h e m e t a p hy s i c a l w i t h t h e c o r p o r e a l wo r l d i s h e a r t f e l t . J a c k s o n ’s t i t l e s u g ge s t s a w ay i n wh i c h we m i g h t i n t e r p r e t h i s p a i n t i n g s a n d u n d e r s t a n d t h e m a g i c a l w ay h e we ave s thoughts, feelings, and sensor y experiences into linear imager y and the substance of paint.
SIOUX GARSIDE Curator 15 July 2015
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Rocks And Hills’. Painted Steel, 36x64.5x23cm. 2015
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Rocks And Hills’. (Reverse) Painted Steel, 36x64.5x23cm. 2015
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Road To Hermannsburg’. Painted Steel, 14.5x123x13.5cm. 2015
ROY JACKSON: ‘Untitled’. B4. 76 x 83cm, acrylic on paper on canvas. 1991-3
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Spinifex’. Painted Steel, 15x25.5x8.5cm. 2015
ROY JACKSON: ‘Untitled’. B15. 76 x83cm, acrylic on paper on canvas. 1991-3
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Ochre Pits’. Patinated Steel, 26.5x35x12cm. 2015
ROY JACKSON: ‘Untitled’. B67. 76 x 85cm, acrylic on paper on canvas. 1991-3
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Dingo Country’. Painted Steel, 29x58x16cm. 2015
ROY JACKSON: ‘Untitled’. B13. 76 x 83cm, acrylic on paper on canvas. 1991-3
PAUL SELWOOD: ‘Red Hills’. Painted Steel, 22.5x40x14cm. 2015
ROY JACKSON: ‘Untitled’. B1. 76 x 76cm, acrylic on paper on canvas. 1991-3
ROY JACKSON: ‘Untitled’. B67. 76 x 91cm, acrylic on paper on canvas. 1991-3
“The world is in my head; My body is in the world. ” PA U L A U S T E R
COVER IMAGE - ROY JACKSON: ‘Blue Lagoon’. 182 x 167.5cm, acrylic on canvas. 1993-6
ROY JACKSON WITH PAUL SELWOOD 2010. PHOTO: MAGGIE BASSENDINE
PAUL SELWOOD SCULPTURE IMAGES BY STEPHEN OXENBURY ROY JACKSON IMAGES © ESTATE OF ROY JACKSON
AUGUST 7TH - 29TH, 2015.
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