Coloured Mud at Michael Lett Gallery
- Linda Gilbert
- Aug 8, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 1, 2022
On 6 August I visited Coloured Mud at the Michael Lett Gallery. This show is a collaboration between painter, Seraphine Pick who works in oil paint on linen, and ceramic artist, Jaime Jenkins who makes hand built ceramics. The show runs from 14 July until 14 August 2021.
Walking into the gallery the first thing that greeted me was the odour of oil paint - exciting!
The paintings range in scale from small, earthy coloured works through to larger ones that have a brighter, more saturated palette such as Dark Bloom (1300 x 1045mm). In shades of deep Prussian blue it has contrasting accents of orange. Path (1300 x 1055mm) has a variety of green hues and tiny but mighty pops of red. These pieces take up space and demand that viewing is initially from a distance to take it all in.
A few paintings are framed. There are two larger works that are on un-stretched linen. One is on the floor and the other draped over a low, angled plinth with approximately 30 ceramic objects in a variety of sizes on top of it. With gestural brushstrokes, some of the paintings are abstract, others representational of portraits and domestic items such as a vase with flowers. Yet others such as Hearth (303 x 231mm) are mash ups featuring things from the real world and abstraction. All of the paintings are in portrait orientation.
The dabbed, energetic looking brushstrokes brought to mind ideas of Impressionism reinforced by some of the colour contrasts used. But that is where the comparison ends because the overall palette comes across as more sombre than the bright and light palette preferred by the Impressionists. Pick has chosen a darker, muddier palette with deep tones. These paintings defy easy categorisation but hit the spirit of our age.
This show is quite different from work in Seraphine Pick's previous oeuvre. Intuitive, dreamy, fantasy elements painted with a brighter colour palette have given way to ideas formed from collaboration and mud, in these strangest of times we live in.
The ceramic objects are also varied in scale, style and firing technique. Some pieces are utilitarian, others are sculptural objets d'art. Muddy, earthy tones are off set by pieces that have pops of brightly coloured painterly blobs and streaks (hand-painted by Pick). In contrast there are large, dark, brooding pieces. These hark back to mid-century modern brutalist style. Most are wood fired with soda at Driving Creek, home of the late Barry Brickell, or gas-fired in Jenkins’ home kiln.
Analysis
The paintings and ceramics riff off each other and there is a kind of musicality apparent. Just as an orchestra comprises a variety of instruments unified by a conductor, this show creates a rhythm of shape, line and colour, curated in harmony. The unusual edges and angles enjoyed as sharps or flats.
This painterly pottery is not purely sculptural - some pieces are put to practical use, such as the hook that suspends the small, intense and sombre painting Dark Squall. The works complement each other. They also support each other literally and figuratively. Pieces of pottery sit under, or on the paintings. Salt fired clay ledges support painted clay objects and sit beneath and off centre from paintings. All sing from the same song sheet.
Connections extend beyond the forms and paintings to the earth and their makers. Boundaries are blurred with ease. A painter painting pottery, a potter digging her own clay then allowing the painter to make marks on her hand built vessels. Scale and style varying from brutalist to whimsical. This arrangement meant the eye was continually darting between the pottery and the paintings, finding links in the conversation between colours, marks and form. Both mediums are executed with a real sense of confidence and a playful, lightness of touch from their makers.
The conversation between artists and their materials was further emphasised by the curation in the light filled space. My eye travelled from intimate, close viewings of the paintings on the wall, to the floor, to the objects, then back again to the paintings on the wall. The large paintings demanded to be viewed from a distance before luring you in - macro to micro. In and out, up and down, the eye was dancing to a kind of improvised jazz made from clay and paint.
Interpretation The whole scene gave me the impression of a domestic interior from another time and place. But was it Edwardian, Mid-Century Modern, or a contemporary reflection on this period we are living through - our own dark age - where the pandemic and climate change threaten our species and planet?
A low, angled table with a large painted un-stretched canvas over it suggests a tablecloth - with a feast of clay upon it. The large painted un-stretched canvas on the floor suggests a rug. The paintings on the wall and in particular Blush Vase (a still life reminiscent of Frances Hodgkins), and the domestic jugs brought to mind a quirky room in some kind of grand Edwardian house.
This led to thoughts of the Arts and Crafts Movement. They believed in craft, the inherent beauty of materials made by hand, utility and beauty having its place within everyday domestic environments.
A deep respect for nature was evident. Mother Earth providing each artist with the raw materials to make her own work.
Mother Earth, domestic concepts, the art versus craft discourse are all associations Coloured Mud evokes. But this dark show might also be a comment on the zeitgeist.
Despite the horrors we face at the end of the Anthropocene, the child in me wondered if Pick and Jenkins didn't also have a bit of fun with this collaboration. Childhood memories of mud pie making, actual fun and freedom were aroused. This idea is supported by the colour palette, title of the show and the loose, yet confident way each artist handles her material. Whatever the intentions and readings, the work produced is evidence that these artists are in tune with each other.
Judgment
Over the years craft has struggled to gain kudos in the art world. For a long time it has been seen as a poor cousin to the ‘fine art’ of painting. Coloured Mud emphatically renders that distinction obsolete. Each medium supports and reinforces the other - there is no hierarchy in this show.
Just as painters paint poetry, musicians write songs in response to poetry, these artists have opened up creative possibilities. Let's hope there are more collaborations between painters and potters.
Individual work(s) as prime examples
The collaboration and the themes observed above are epitomised in the ‘rug’ (painting on the floor which was not for sale) and the painted, large ceramic vessel on top of it, named Forest Vase (373mm high).
We see a large, unstretched green and pink rectangular swathe of painted linen with softly painted pink edges and green, leafy looking marks. It is pastel and soft and laid out on an angle on the floor. Pick originally painted this as a backdrop for a play. On top sits a dark, sturdy, hand-painted, wood-fired stoneware vase. Jenkins made the vase and Pick hand-painted it.
The painting is relegated to the floor - not the usual place we would find a painting. The vase is placed on top of the painting - again a mix up of traditional positioning. The green and pink ‘rug’ acts as a carpet or host for the vase. Together they appear to be talking about nature, domestic settings and disrupting artistic hierarchies around craft and fine art. The viewer is asked to look down into a watery green pond, field, or rug. The painted pottery vase is empty but sits there ominously, the dominant image in the installation. Painting unifies the two objects.
Linda Gilbert
August 2021
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