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Alizon Gray, seeking silence

“My paintings are reflections of my experiences in the world, abstractly recorded as illusory landscapes. The landscape is represented in my paintings as an imagined place, or the in-between space that connects memory and place rather than rendering a particular vista. By building up layers of lines, squiggles, dots, scrubby brush marks, and veils of paint in varying degrees of transparency I hope to create an image that cannot be understood in a simple glance. The various marks aren’t representative of anything in particular. Rather, they are markers that point to a place or memory, acting as a vehicle that takes us into the abstracted space of quietude and reflection.

I never have a particular outcome in mind when I start a painting. Usually I pick a colour at random and start to make marks on the canvas. Each mark thereafter is in response to those previously placed; it is a dance between intuition and consideration. The decision to place each mark is part of my pursuit to seek a delicate balance between the forms and space that evolve naturally in each piece as it develops to a point of resolution.”

A VCA painting Alumni, Alizon Gray has been a finalist in numerous art prizes and has exhibited widely throughout Australia in both group and solo exhibitions. She created her latest body of work for seeking silence from her light filled, Northcote studio, “Whilst I am in my studio every day, my time in the studio is not all physical painting time. 90% of my painting time is spent ‘looking’ at my paintings as opposed to having a brush in hand. This may be misconstrued as procrastination to an onlooker, but it is a vital part of my practice. This time spent looking at my paintings is quiet reflection as well as careful consideration for the next mark and overall aesthetic. Sometimes the marks are spontaneous, whilst others are carefully considered.” This is her first solo exhibition at Boom.

“I love to look at other artists who paint abstractly, whether this is abstracting out a landscape or figure, or pure abstraction. I am particularly interested in the work of contemporary indigenous artists such as Sally Gabori, who use synthetic, or seemingly unreal colours to map the landscape. At the moment I am in love with Ken Done’s paintings and his philosophy around painting: the idea that paintings can be beautiful objects that grow with you and give pleasure over time, that you can find something new every time you look at them. He has an amazing affinity for colour and a vast array of marks in his works, which I seek to have in my own paintings.”

To see a full listing click here. seeking silence runs until June 16.