STRATA

Faraway Nearby

2 June - 9 July 2017

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery

Contributing Authors

Dr Judith Jensen / Dr Jennifer Mulcahy

Publication Design and Development

Rob Donaldson

Photography

All photographs by Aaron Ashley, unless otherwise noted.

Foreword

Strata: Faraway Nearby is a collaborative project by Barbara Cheshire and Deborah Cavanagh and it is with pleasure that Perc Tucker Regional Gallery is able to present this body of work to the Townsville community. Barbara has worked many years as a visual artist and educator while Deb is a well-known local artist whose work is well respected.

Central to this exhibition is the individual’s connection to place. Deb writes, “Place forms our identity, it shapes who we are and how we interact with people and the world around us. Place is a two way interaction between ourselves and the world around us.” The exhibition illustrates the artists’ experiences of places, layering similar and diverse physical, emotional and spiritual responses to the same and different landscapes to create works that resonate with us all.

The two year collaborative process began with discussions about their travel abroad and about the places nearby that had strong connections for them. Barbara tells us that, “In spite of the commonalities of place, we discovered the development continually came back to singular perceptions and of subjectivity and objectivity. These arose out of the engagement with and in each place through the experience of the individual.”

Their conversations led to the idea of producing a single, large work - a map depicting the essence of those places significant to them. Deb writes that “as the artists worked together on the two by two metre canvas they realised the colours and marks represented, not simply their recent travels, but also their changing experience of place throughout their lives.” As they completed the subsequent works from the twenty images of the sections of the large canvas, Barbara and Deb found that individual images spoke to them personally and in the development of the artwork revealed deeper emotional and spiritual understanding of their personal experience. The exhibition highlights the exceptional talent of these artists. I encourage you to explore each work particularly the layers of meaning places may have for each of us

Dr Judith Jensen Acting Team Manager Galleries and Libraries

Image right: Barbara Cheshire

Firmament, Tall Trees and Technology [detail] 2016

Artisan oil on canvas

153 x 101 cm

Image overleaf: Deborah Cavanagh

Dusk [detail] 2016

Acrylic on canvas

153 x 101 cm