FOREWORD ARRYN SNOWBALL: SLACK WATER

It’s with pleasure that Galleries, Townsville City Council presents Slack Water an exhibition by Arryn Snowball. Showcasing Arryn’s paintings at Pinnacles Gallery furthers the development of the Galleries Exhibition Policy to develop shows in partnership with other organisations. Arryn is a mid-career Queensland artist currently living in Berlin, where he continues to create new work in the ongoing project that commenced in 2017 with poet Nathan Shepherdson.

I first became aware of Arryn’s artwork whilst walking through Sydney Contemporary, where Nicholas Thompson Gallery presented Slack Water in booth CO2, Future Contemporary, Carriageworks. The work was bold. It flowed across the canvas catching my eye, holding it there for a second or two before moving up or down the composition like a wayfinder leading my imagination from the presented text through images conjured in my mind’s eye gently across the substrate like the ebb and flow of the ocean.

Nathan Shepherdson describes the collaborative process that he and Arryn have navigated in producing this work and how this project came about through a reference to Grant’s Guide to Fishes.

Slack Water is a fitting exhibition for our region and community of artists, scientists, and fishing lovers, recognised for its sustainable fishing industry and world-class researchers based at James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).

We want to thank the contributing writers for their insight into the work of Slack Water and celebrate the exhibition showing at the USC Art Gallery, Sunshine Coast.

Jo Lankester