Transparent/Opaque by Anthea da Silva, contains a contemporary meditation on the concept of ‘memento mori’ (remember that you will die), which is a central tenet of Buddhist and Christian contemplatives.
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Transparent/Opaque was inspired by a series of calamities that recently shook Anthea da Silva’s world – among them, her mother’s death and her partner’s cancer diagnosis and the ongoing invasive treatment.
The adage, ‘Listen out for the whispers before you have to hear the screams’, has resonated for the artist like a series of farcical explosions.
Anthea da Silva’s passion for life drawing and portraiture informs the layered and transparent themes in her work.
X-rays, shadows and reflections, charcoal, oil and acrylic mediums map the surreal undertows and the bleeding obvious, beyond the surface of the precious, fragile, not-always-robust human.
Da Silva’s initial interest in anatomy, physiology and kinesiology led to a career in paediatric occupational therapy, and then to study and work in the visual and performing arts sectors.
She has taught tertiary Visual Arts in Western Australia and facilitated arts workshops in WA, Melbourne, the North Coast of New South Wales and now the Riverina.
“The calm predictability of human life can spiral on a tiny axis, and highlight the transparencies, apparencies, opacities and duplicities that challenge core beliefs,” Anthea da Silva says, describing the exhibition.
“Things can be so ephemeral. I’m so grateful for friends and experiences that whisper resilience and resourcefulness.”
Anthea da Silva: Transparent/Opaque is on display at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery until Sunday March 25.
A public closing for the exhibition will be held at the gallery on Friday March 16 at 6pm.
Familiar feeling
Each of the paintings, prints and programs in Tony Curran’s Random Feels Familiar uses pseudo-random procedures as a way to create mystery and visual surprise.
Using fragments of the artist’s digital life drawings, these works are remixed and presented as new pseudo-random compositions.
Describing the creation of his work, Tony Curran says that a computer can't actually behave randomly.
“Instead, programmers invent algorithms so that a computer appears to behave randomly insofar its patterns of behaviour appear nonsensical.
“The algorithm is a success when the user can't trace the pattern.”
Random Feels Familiar will be on display at the gallery until Sunday February 18, 2018.
