NATURES GARDEN August 19 - 16 September 2022 Artist Residency Lon Retreat Point Lonsdale Victoria

Cathy Quinn’s vivid, evocative new work is the outcome of her recent artist residency at Lon Retreat on the Bellarine Peninsula. Her art is informed by three decades of immersing herself in the majesty and mystery of Point Lonsdale. Feeling the stillness of summer, with the the clicking of the crickets and the symphony of birdsong. The smell of the sea air whilst exploring the rockpools, the textured kelp gardens, the darting fish and the colours that awaken the senses. Walking the beach as the sun rises and sets, observing the ever changing sky looking from Lon to the lighthouse and beyond. The voluminous clouds overhead as you emerge from the ancient twisted moonah paths. “These paintings are a reflection of many years of layered moments in my mind. Lon sits high on the hill, luxuriating under that big beautiful Bellarine sky. This residency has offered me time to explore the magic of Lon Retreat and its surrounds. I’ve had time to wander and see things from a different perspective. Here, my imagination has conjured its own imagery. Look up, look down, look along and beyond - there is treasure all around. This is Nature’s Garden

HINTERLAND May 28 - June 11, 2022 ANTHEA POLSON ART

HINTERLAND

“Turn with your back to the beauty of the water and the lure of the verdant, undulating landscape lies ahead.  There’s a mystery as to what is hidden beyond the curving corners of the tracks and roads,” imparts Melbourne-based Cathy Quinn.  The title of her current body of work, Hinterland, not only references actual places she once visited but also vistas the mind can kindle – “the possibilities of what lies beyond the mountains.”

“These recent works are memory paintings,” says Quinn.  “They are expressions of how I felt in certain places and times.”  She tells of managing to escape between the many Victorian lockdowns to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, “leaving the dark, cold days of Melbourne for the warm life I had been dreaming of.”  The paintings depict her visual encounters when driving inland to Pomona’s Mount Cooroora and Yandina’s Mount Eerwah, both striking volcanic plugs towering above the landscape.  “There was a particular lookout point where I stopped and soaked in the view and sketched until I wore out the patience of my travel companion,” she recalls.  “Back on the coast I had experienced extraordinary colour-saturated sunsets and gentle sunrises.  White sandy beaches looked out to the blue, blue waters of paradise, yet it is those mountains rising up like termite mounds that continue to capture my imagination.”

For Quinn painting is a means of shifting consciousness from the troubles of the outside world.  In the studio she awaits the moment when the fleeting recollections of her hinterland experiences again reveal themselves. “My sketched observations intertwine with imagination. Associated memories invite themselves into the space and there my landscapes grow before me,” she divulges.  An intuitive artist, Quinn affirms that the element of chance is an integral part of her process.  “The act of painting is ever changing and wonderfully surprising.  When I’m in a state of flow the work talks to me.  Sometimes we argue which results in a lot of push and pull and then we are friends again, cooperating and enjoying each other’s company.”

The resultant shimmering paintings are a synthesis of inner and outer realms.  Rather than being realistic representations, Quinn’s paintings seek to convey the experience of an immersion in landscape.  Perceived topography has been divested of solidity in the flow of oil medium and spontaneous gesture.  “It is my hope that the paintings evoke an emotional response and that the viewer will navigate their own way into my constructed landscapes and find something special for themselves in there,” concludes Quinn.

JACQUELINE HOUGHTON

HEAT AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS EXPLORING THE DRY HEAT OF THE DESERT AND THE LUSH PALM TREES OFFERING SHADE IN THE VALLEYS

ARTIST STATEMENT

My paintings are a reflection of my experience immersing myself within the landscape. My response to the colour, smell and textures encompasses a deep connection to memories which play out upon the canvas. My focus is generally on the ambiguity created by melding the shapes and weaving layers of colour light and atmosphere.

A Covid winter lockdown has provided an opportunity to reflect and dream.

My usual rich colour palate has been subdued whilst I reflect upon hot sunset evenings and languid afternoons.

Melbourne-based artist Cathy Quinn is well recognised for her joyously fluid oil paintings. Her colourful abstracted landscapes take pictorial cues from the various locations she has visited over the years. Although the outdoor scenes are grounded in familiar terrain, they constitute a melding of such to create a personal vision. Quinn relates that mood is an important aspect in these works; experience of time and place evoke the feeling and direction of her painting. 

Quinn’s latest body of work, From Within, is an exploration of the artist’s distinctive process and an investigation into observations and perceptions. Quinn tells that the act of painting constantly surprises her. “Memories of place and time bubble to the surface and the outcome will reveal itself not when I am ready but when ‘It’ is ready.”

 “The start a painting is like the beginning of a journey,” Quinn continues.  “I choose a path but there are so many forks in the road and choices have to be made. Things curiously unfold during this process.” Her starting point is a mapping out of intentions followed with intuitive brushwork that leads her into an interiority that conjures imagined landscapes from stored memories.

 “There is a definite shift in my mind and I’ve learnt that I can’t force it, I just need to wait until I get into the zone! The resultant ‘reveal’ presents as a melding of layers of luminous colour which push and pull until they settle on a path which delivers me to my destination. It really fascinates me, this rocky road of highs and lows. I have learnt to be patient with myself and to just stay with it.”

 “Atmosphere pertaining to weather, mood and life are very much at play in my works, they inform my direction and choices,” muses Quinn. “Grief/abundance, joy/loss, hope/self-judgment - it’s a messy struggle at times but I’m a believer in using those rose-coloured glasses and adding a punch of colour to ease any situation. Only the start and the end are clear!”

about abstraction - Nov 2019

Town Hall Gallery, Boroondara - About Abstraction brings together four local artists whose practice focuses on abstraction.

Cathy Quinn’s latest body of work is a temporal exploration of the Yarra River; the river of the past, the river of the present and that which lies in between. The life force of the river has seen many things over its very long history, taking on many guises. It is a living thing; respected by some, defaced by others. It has been tamed and used, but it has much more control over us than we have over it. We shape it and it shapes us. The artists play with colour and layers attempts to explore the interplay of our Yarra River. Formation and dissolution. In working with themes of country, Cathy Quinn acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of this land, which was never ceded and recognises their continuing connection to country. She pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

Sense of Summer - June 2019

Art Images Gallery - These works explore the sense of summer and its shifting light. Light dances across both water and landscapes creating illusion and promise of what could be.

Rhythm and Flow - March 2018

Ecco Outdoor, Richmond - When Rick Eckersley invited artists to interpret his gardens at Musk Cottage in Flinders for his upcoming book Rougue:The Art of a Garden Cathy Quinn began painting but found it difficult to stop. The abundance of possibility made the task of one work impossible. The works transition from a more defined view of the landscape to a more intuitive interpretation investigating blocks of colour, shape, texture & pattern. The way Quinn works is very organic, working through solutions over time. “I spent many visits meandering the pathways and just absorbing the feeling of the landscape”

Flowers that pop in the sunlight

Leaves that catch the pearls of dew

Grasses that ripple and sway

Branches that bend and toss

Cathy Quinn 2018

The painting titled Rhythm & Flow will be included in Rick Eckersley’s new book Rogue:The Art of a Garden released by URO Publications.

The Still Of Day - July 2018

The impetus behind this body of work was kindled during a family trip to the Bellarine Peninsula. The location with its vastly contrasting aspects- from majestic rocky shorelines, long sandy beaches to the quiet backwaters of Swan Bay and its peaceful harbour nourish the artists creative and metaphysical musings.