Rachael Polson – Artist

Studio Gallery, Adelaide Central Gallery, 45 Osmond Terrace, Norwood, South Australia

Opens 6-8pm 10 Sept. Until 23 Oct 2010

Rachael Polson completed her Bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours from Adelaide Central School of Art in 2009. At the beginning of 2010, after nine years in Adelaide she and her family have moved to Timaru, New Zealand.  From this busy time in her life, comes work motivated by the desire to stand still, to freeze time, to capture moments, to know where time goes.

Rachael’s works are a collection of sculptures, paintings and photographs.  She explores brushstrokes captured in paint. The camera has also been used as a painting tool.  By sweeping the camera across her own paintings she has ‘painted’ new works with the camera. Subsequent works are developed though a process of ‘cross pollination’ between media. Each work informs the next; consciously pollinating from paint to thread to camera image.

"Who knows where the time goes...?" Exhibition, Studio Gallery, Adelaide Central School of Art, Sept 10- Oct 23 2010

Untitled, #3/12 tiny paintings, 2010, Rachael Polson

Endless 1, 2010, Rachael Polson, Wire and thread.

Camera paintings, 2010, "Who knows where the time goes...?" exhibition, Studio Gallery, Adelaide Central School of Art, Sept 10 - Oct 23 2010, Rachael Polson

Installation of 12 tiny paintings, 2010, Rachael Polson

For more images of this exhibition, please click on page tab above “Gallery Images”

Camera Painting #3, 2010, Rachael Polson

Camera Painting #8, 2010, Rachael Polson

Untitled, 2010, Rachael Polson, oil on canvas 10cm x 10cm

Here are some of my latest photos.  These are photos of my paintings.  I am “cross pollinating” between media. My work extends this idea of cross pollination to include interaction between of works 2 dimensions and 3 dimensions. In this case I am taking another step in the interaction between materials by using the camera as a drawing tool.  It is a tool for the capture of something fleeting, something which I have noticed and feel is deserving of longer contemplation.

Anne Ellegood uses the term ‘cross pollination’ in reference to Rosalind Krauss’ observation of wide ranging use of media and experimentation within and around the traditional definition of sculpture. Rather than artistic works being limited to one material, the definition of sculpture has expanded to include a wide variety of works. (P. 8 Introduction Motley Efforts: Sculpture’s Ever-Expanding Field, Vitamin 3-d: New Perspectives in Sculpture and Installation, Phaidon Press, 2009)

Camera Painting # 1 , 2010, © Rachael Polson,  Digital Photo

Camera Painting # 8, 2010, © Rachael Polson, Digital Photo

Camera Paintings #1-14 are editions of 15 please contact

Adelaide Central Gallery, 45 Osmond Terrace
Norwood South Australia 5067, Australia
(08) 8364 2809 for details and prices

© Rachael J Polson and http://www.rachaelpolsonartist, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rachael J Polson and http://www.rachaelpolsonartist.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Untitled, 2009, © Rachael Polson, Thread, PVC sheeting and fixings.

Does a painting have to happen on a canvas?  In line with Rosalind Krauss’ writings on Sculpture in the Expanded Field and subsequent writings by Gustavo Fares on Painting in the Expanded Field,  these sculptures can be regarded as ‘paintings’.     Pigment (in the form of thread)  is mixed together as paint would be. Each box is like a tiny precious moment held in time.

Untitled, 2009, © Rachael Polson, Thread and Fixings

This work became known as  “frozen calligraphy ” around art school, due to the trapped gestural movement inherent in the work.  Each form is wrapped in bright thread.  This is an attempt to trap time in the material by the repeated action of wrapping.

Untitled, 2009, © Rachael Polson, Oil on Canvas

Can a moment in time be captured in paint?  Paint is a particularly good medium for recording movement.  Each brushmark traps the movement made by the artist, preserving that moment on the canvas.

Untitled, 2009, © Rachael Polson.  String and toothpicks.

This work is primarily formally based.  Emphasis is on tonal variation, line and repetition.  But we can also ‘read’ the repeated action of unravelling the string and hanging it up.  Again those actions and moments are ‘trapped’ and held within the work.

“Move”, 2008, © Rachael Polson, Acrylic and gesso on paper

This is from my 3rd year studio work at Art School. I was experimenting with abstracting the human form in relation to movement and mark making as a way of trapping a gesture.

Untitled, 2009, © Rachael Polson, Oil on canvas, rope and thread

This painting/sculpture explores the interaction between 2 dimensions and 3 dimensions.  Coloured wrappings on the sculpture cause the viewers eye to move back and forward across both dimensions.  The aim is to interfere with the way the viewer regards the work resulting in an alternating sense of movement and stillness.

© Rachael Jean Polson and http://www.rachaelpolsonartist.wordpress.com, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rachael Jean Polson and http://www.rachaelpolsonartist.wordpress.com  with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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