Events Calendar

Cristina Popovici – “I AM COLOUR”

OPENING: 17th April at 5pm – all welcome, please join the G33 team and Cristina to celebrate – all welcome

A solo show of new paintings by Melbourne based painter Cristina Popovici.

Artist statement:
Texture and colour were the chosen artistic elements to focus on for the 'I Am Colour' exhibition; more specifically the way colour follows form. Colour has always been used as a vessel to reveal the energy charged in gestures; the visual sensation gained from colourful, bold marks has always complemented my action painting.

In this particular body of work, an abundance of tones and colour combinations were used. There was a push to detach any prejudice or judgment from colour palettes in order to explore new combinations for self-expression.

Deep purples complement transparent yellows, and cobalt blues harmonise with ochre tones; a palette inspired from a book of New Zealand landscapes where the crispness and contrasts of the sky and Earth were very striking.

A lot of attention was placed on texture, due to its influence on how colour is revealed. A mixture of smooth, glazed sections and thick, sculptural marks were used to provide a backbone for colour and energy. Industrial materials were used in conjunction with stencils to create bold gestures, harmonising with surrounding brush marks.

Tones seep through the form of the stenciled marks, and add force and speed to gestures. The harmony between the lines created by brush marks and the stillness of glazed, shiny areas create a balance between space and complexity.

The process of these works encapsulated both action painting and classical approaches. To begin with, action painting brought each work to life. Energy was transmitted through marks applied from a distance on large scaled canvases (in order to remove any size constraints). 
Later, the stenciled marks brought coarseness to the canvas, adding matter to the former brush strokes. 
Towards the end, layers and tones of colour were used abundantly, collecting different combinations in each work. 
The works were then approached with a classical eye. There was a search for images, for elements of nature embedded in the pieces whilst refraining from creating landscapes. Elements such as coal like marks, and autumn palettes were emphasized; methods accumulated over time were used to celebrate colours and textures, rather than approaching with an experimental attitude. 

The three dimensionality of the paste like material used in the artworks bonds the body of work with the self-portraits. The sculptures were created to show the physical connectedness between self and colour, whilst complementing and interacting with surrounding artworks. The process very much adopted a ‘painting’ mentality, where instead of subtracting the material from a block of clay (the technique used by sculptors), clay was instead added. The expression comes to life through the sculpture’s texture; the raw, hands-on technique did not attempt to display the skills needed to perfect a portrait. Instead, the aim was to manifest self-expression in a tactile method. 

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Location

33 Helwick Street