TRACES

An exploration of layers, surfaces, textures, and the memory of what is left behind

Artists - Elizabeth Haigh, Jerry Osadczuk, Laura Windmill

A clue, a taste, a suggestion: what was once here remains slightly, lightly. Traces of moments past leave their impressions in memory, in the earth, and in the atmosphere. The effects of what has already transpired will be felt for years to come – from ancestral lineage to global warming, today bears the trace of yesterday.

In this exhibition, three artists across three media express how traces of memory, geology, light and atmosphere create a testament: a modern artefact that acknowledges what came before. For Elizabeth Haigh, whose matrilineal heritage in tailoring informs her artwork, this exhibition is a way of ‘Tracing time and memory,’ where she ‘intersects family textile traditions to express her respect for the land.’ Her hand-painted fabric is embedded into handcrafted prints, allowing light to pass through yet simultaneously reference sedimentary rock. Jerry Osadzuk paints abstract landscape works, offering the viewer a portal into a textured and surreal place. Layers of paint are themselves traces of his brush strokes, and act as markers of his movements, materials, textures and colours. Laura Windmill is a ceramicist whose skill in unpredictable techniques, such as Raku and Saggar firing, results in remarkable works. In this exhibition, her pieces manifest her memories and love of wild places, as well as offering a contemplation of bushfire and what is left behind. The physical processes of her firing techniques bring a literal transference from the atmosphere inside her kiln to the clay body – traces of a dynamic reaction caught on their surface akin to a moment captured on film.

Words crafted by Sarah Stewart.

Traces is showing at YAVA Gallery & Arts Hub from Saturday 24 September to 16 October, with an opening event at 6pm, Wednesday 21 September.