The Universe Within
The unseen accompanies the seen: our visual lives are rich with imagery, across our feeds and our busy lives, our domestic spaces and those of our community. Everywhere we look, we are fed with images – beautiful and otherwise – but beneath, within, alongside, is that which we cannot see, but only feel.
That which is not seen fascinates the two artists whose work comprises this exhibition at YAVA, The Universe Within. Amanda Ruck and Jessica Harris each work with scale to demonstrate the micro within the macro; their works invite you to look a little closer, find the beauty inside that speaks to you, the viewer, and connects with your internal world.
Amanda articulates her inclusion of ‘familiars’ in her artworks: ‘Little spirits or guides that live in inanimate objects often inform my painting direction. Some associations are obvious, like colour or shape, but others display a far deeper connection.’ This exhibition is her expression of the spark at the root of her work, the inspiring force.
Jessica works to express the way that our emotions (formless, invisible) inhabit our bodily selves and define our response to all things. She examines how the intense privacy of our emotions is juxtaposed to, yet correlates with, the determining energy they possess. Her artworks have us contemplate the ‘internal emotional worlds that we all hide so cleverly within ourselves, that are unseen and unknown and yet govern our whole lives.’
Using diverse but complementary forms, these two artists exhibit works that take the viewer within. Amanda’s paintings are paired with small objects, talismans of the ‘familiar’ that allude to their guiding powers. Jessica’s tiny collages, situated within a site-specific mural, invite a close inspection, revealing a world that mirrors our own private emotional universe.
ARTFUL Meditation
Exhibition dates:
7 April - 1 May 2022
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday-Sunday 10am-4pm.
Easter Hours
Closed Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Open Saturday and Sunday on Easter weekend
ARTISTS in the gallery:
If you’d like to see the exhibition and chat with the artists about their work directly, we’ll be updating times they’ll be here at YAVA:
Amanda Ruck
Sunday 17 April Cloud Burst Acrylic Workshop in YAVA’s Margaret Lawrence studio 10am-noon BOOK HERE
then afterwards Amanda will be in the gallery 12-4pm.
Sunday 24 April Cloud Burst Acrylic Workshop in YAVA’s Margaret Lawrence studio 10am-noon BOOK HERE
then afterwards Amanda will be in the gallery 12-4pm.
Jessica Harris
Saturday 16 April Repetitive Lines and Patterns Workshop in YAVA’s Margaret Lawrence studio 10am-noon BOOK HERE
then afterwards Jessica will be in the gallery 12-4pm.
Saturday 23 April Repetitive Lines and Patterns Workshop in YAVA’s Margaret Lawrence studio 10am-noon BOOK HERE
then afterwards Jessica will be in the gallery 12-4pm12-4pm.
YAVA INSTAGRAM:
