Chromatic Surfaces

Now open - work by Dunedin based, MFA [distinction] School of Art, artist Jessica Ritchie. Until 8 December.
‘Paintings are a reflection upon the art of painting itself: abstract, drawing from colour, light, and music. The work is concerned with process, with the exploration of the formal qualities of painting, and of the infinite possibilities of touch with paint. Located within the context of the field of abstract painting, the term ‘abstraction’ is used in a questioning and provisional sense rather than as a categorising or labelling term; considering complexity rather than reduction. The paintings show the potential of abstract painting to communicate light and space.’
Drawn to anything reflective, lustrous, iridescent, and saturated, Ritchie’s recent paintings have focussed on intensity and exuberance. On closer inspection many reveal themselves as ‘accumulations of debris’ from building up of surfaces from scraped and gathered paint and other materials. The expressive force resides in the materiality of colour, texture, and excess.