Exhibition period: 25 June - 27 August, 2016

A joint exhibition by Australian glass sculptor Claudia Borella and Australian painter Agneta Ekholm. 

 

Claudia Borella 

Originally trained as an Industrial Designer, Claudia Borella completed her training across further institutions in the early 1990's at the University of Canberra and European Institute of Design in Milan later specialising in Fine Arts at the internationally renowned Australian National University Glass Department. 

Over the years Claudia has garnered numerous international accolades including the Kyhoei Fujita Award Denmark; Gold Medal and State Prize at Talente Munich; and the David Thomas Award at the Dowse Museum in New Zealand. Recently recognised in 2012 for her contribution to art and design and achievements in her field as a finalist in the University of Canberra Alumni Awards she has subsequently been honored with an Adjunct Professorial role through the same University in Australia's capital.

With a long standing career working in kiln formed Bullseye Glass her works are represented in many international collections including the Australian National Gallery, Australia; Toyama Institute of Glass Art, Japan; the Glass Furnace in Istanbul, Turkey; as well as many private collections including that of Sir Elton John.

 

Born Helsinki, Finland. Lives and works in Melbourne Australia.

My current work is by definition abstract and it is built entirely from imagination and engagement with my technical process. Each painting evolves on the canvas: no working drawings exist.

The viewer is immersed in the luxurious ebb and flow of paint and mysterious forms which might be suggestive of radiological images, landscapes, light-play, water flow or movement: many personal associations may be provoked. The scope of individual response to the paintings reflects an indefinable quality that is essential to the work's ultimate success.

The paintings result from the exploration and discovery inherent in a technique honed over the last number of years.

Working with fast-drying acrylic and water, I use a sponge to apply layer upon layer of shapes and gestures with solid pigment and transparent washes, while continually washing and rubbing sections away until the final complex image is built. I may work for days on a small isolated section of the painting. It is an obsessive and fastidious process and the work travels a complex journey of twists and turns before I have found the 'solution' which is that paintings final incarnation.

A spare use of colour focuses attention on a sense of movement in the forms framed by a still surround. In these works an inky blue creates a cool, dark and sensual space.

It seems paradoxical that the work, while time consuming and re-worked attentively over weeks and months, should appear at first glance simple and immediate.

The strong fluid and organic core stilled by the gentle ground , contributes to vague figurative and emotional qualities that the audience just cannot pin down.

Agneta Ekholm - 2016