European Adventures and Palimpsestuos Exhibitions

As of next week we are off on a rather grand family adventure in Europe, more specifically Italy and England. I will be gone for a little over two months and although we will have Internet access I would imagine this will be the last blog for a little while.


I have no doubt that when we return to the great land of Oz in 2009 we will be filled with inspiration and excitement for all that the year will have to offer.

Not to be forgotten:

On the 10th of January Nigel's exhibition, the one that has been much discussed, will be opening at Gunyulgup Galleries in Yallingup WA. At this stage all of the images are completed except for the final one, which Nigel is working on as I write. To see the details either visit Nigel's website:

http://www.nigelhewitt.com.au/

or Gunyulgup's page:
http://www.gunyulgupgalleries.com.au/



Concluding:

I will leave you with one final image, one of my personal favourites, going into the latest show. Although it is currently untitled, the image speaks strongly about those implicated by ongoing arrivals. As we have seen the ship approaching the unknown land in previous images, here we see those implicated. Two men stand on the beach looking out to their unavoidable fate. Contemplative and personal, this image speaks to the heart of this body of work.

Upcoming Exhibition

Exhibition statement:

Nigel Hewitt’s latest exhibition tells three types of narratives: the layering and creating of each individual image; the marked transition of a whole body of work; as well as an interrogation of the broad narrative of culture and history in the works’ subject matter.

Two images in the exhibition come from the end of ‘The Shadower’ series. The Shadower VI and VII are transitional images; for in them there is a movement towards a misty, abstract depth. It is these two images and their pursuit of ambiguous light and space that inevitably led to the adoption of the wax medium. This change in medium is necessarily mirrored by a change in subject matter. With the use of wax and oils the creation of an image becomes more responsive and intuitive and the process of creating works is now governed by the use of layers. The varying opacity and transparency of the wax allows for the image’s full history to be recorded: every layer and every moment of development of each image is visible through the final surface.

Underneath the aesthetic surface of Hewitt’s new wax works lies a history and record of all that has passed before. Much like the literal palimpsest that is at the base of ‘The Cartographer’ the wax works themselves are a layered history which record and question the mechanisms of power; those of mapping, language, navigation and economy. This power, as it has been manifested throughout history as well as how it continues to function today, is brought to our attention through symbolic objects that contrast and compliment one another. The work recognises that the way we live is determined by the past, whether visible or invisible. It is in this recognition of the importance of history that we can acknowledge the present as a formation of tomorrow’s history.

These works are about contemporary fear; they shake us out of our complacency.
The work contemplates human, environmental and cultural development. It considers the imposition and power of language as it has delineated and implicated maps, land and oceans which have been inscribed by, that which appears at times to be, arbitrary and irrelevant. A language of fear covers the land and ocean in Hewitt’s images, as the world is being re-colonised and reinscribed by a foreign ideology. The ship, which transcends time and history, scatters language and values through the contemporary world. It is in these images that we are metaphorically witnessing the formation of history, as it is happening now.

The use of wax in the new medium is essential to the interpretation and contemplation of these images. For it is in the ambiguity and indeterminacy of the space created by the aesthetics of a wax surface that we have chance to consider the implication of the work’s subject matter. It in the depth of the images that we are able to leave behind our everyday world (which is all too often busy with technology, communication and progress) and consider the long-term implications of now.

Layers of History and Coming Through the Fog

The image above is the final stage of one of the larger pieces for Nigel's exhibition at Gunyulgup Galleries at the very beginning of 2009. Progressing from 'The Cartographer' (as discussed previously) the palimpsest has moved out of the abstracted lower realm to cover the land, ocean and mapping of our world. In this image the only language is English; the letters and influence that is being washed up onto the land from the wake of the ship is literally determining our reading of the land. Certainly this ship is not sailing uncharted waters, or discovering new territory. But, rather, revisiting and re-inscripting history with more contemporary words and ideologies.

The language that has been impressed upon the land is a language of contemporary fear and anger: it is the language of power that has no limits. Perhaps the ship (the Endeavour or a replica) is suggesting that despite our new and globalised world; despite our consciousness of difference and supposed respect for the world's multitude of cultures, there is still the possibility that one culture, one language and one set of determining fears can influence the world over.

In the fog, appearing or striving not to disappear, we can make out a figure. The human element. It is in the presence (and potential disappearance) of this figure that this concept of mapping and language and contemporary fear moves out of the abstract and into the personal. What devastation has and will be caused by the unmonitored powers that be?

As always I will acknowledge that these comments are my own reflections on Nigel's work rather than his intent or commentary.

The images that we have below are the different stages of development of the palimpsest in the image 'The Cartographer'. Photographs have been taken at different stages of the images progression and i found it interesting to have the layers all together, and be able to look at them as though looking through different stages of history.

Although there is much to say about this image, the development of the palimpsest and the history of language I will stop here in fear of giving away too much of my own opinion and clouding the reading of the images in their own right - with all the depth and complexity that they have to offer.

Practice Cartographies and Unexpected Details

Above are the two images ('Circumnavigation A & B') that Nigel is entering in the 'Small Images/ Grand Visions' at Wagner in Sydney. They are studies for 'The Cartographer' - the image that is still in progress that was discussed in detail in the previous entry.

After having difficulty with the large image, getting it to come together and work as a whole, Nigel put it aside to test some ideas on these smaller canvases. Having to be only 12x12" this provided the perfect opportunity to play with the tonal and compositional make up of the images. The small size allows for drastic changes to be made quickly.

Coming back to 'The Cartographer' after spending a few days on these images Nigel was able to add deeper reds to the foreground of the globe which made the smaller images work well. Also compositionally in the two 'Circumnavigation' images there are two different skies. The image on the left, like the larger image, has the dark clouds above moving off the side of the canvas. On the right however the dark clouds come down the side of the canvas, framing the image. Discovering this worked best these changes are able to be made to the large canvas without too much time spent experimenting on a large scale.



Below is another, very close up, detail of the developing palimpsest at the bottom of 'The Cartographer'. It is in looking at details like these that we can see the wonders and fascination if this new medium. In the layering, scraping, carving of the wax there are amazing details that develop on their own. with some parts keeping the opaque white of fresh wax and other parts being so transparent that despite the continual layer some of the texture of the raw canvas is still visible.

This detail is of only about 3x3cm of a 150x170cm canvas. In it you can see the textures, colours and interest developing below the surface of this wax. And still this is only with the first two languages, it is hard to image what amazing details might unexpectedly emerge as a further two languages are added.

Ghost Ships and Palimpsests

Here is the image that is currently in progression. I have two states, a week apart, as we see Nigel battling with this new and versatile medium.

The inspiration for the subject of this image is from Nigel reading about Derrida's Mystic writing pad. In this article Derrida writes of a pad which can be written or drawn on and then erased. Though after erasing there is always an element of what was previously there left behind. This concept has held a long term interest for Nigel as his work has always been about examining and developing surfaces. For example in his early wax works (in the 1990s) Nigel would often put early bold layers of bright colours, writing and images that would be almost entirely subdued by the following layer of subtle wax. To see the layers in the final image is always a challenge though the images have an almost uneasiness as they are haunted by their own past.

This concept of Derrida's pertains to, the much thought over, idea of the palimpsest. Used as a metaphor throughout much and differing theory, palimpsest has been used to explain the development and imposing of languages among other things.



"A palimpsest is a manuscript page, whether from scroll or book that has been written on, scraped off, and used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin from Greek παλιν + ψαω = ("again" + "I scrape"), and meant "scraped (clean and used) again." Romans wrote on wax-coated tablets that could be smoothed and reused, and a passing use of the rather bookish term "palimpsest" by Cicero seems to refer to this practice."
To a large extent the work that Nigel is doing, in technique and application is itself somewhat of a palimpsest. As layers are placed one on top of the other, scraping back and re-doing, until an image is complete.

Though in this latest image Nigel is literally creating a palimpsest of languages in the bottom segment of the image. Under the world as we perceive it, in its both flat and spherical conceptions, lies the history of language.

In the detail below you can see the first two stages of the palimpsest. At the base in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on top of which is a segment from the bible in Hebrew. The following two layers yet to be added are traditional Chinese characters and finally modern English.

The words and characters are not only scribed onto the canvas but also carved and scraped into the surface of the wax layers. In this way the languages are able to appear, disappear and reappear at different layers.

This use of metaphor and literal representation of languages relates to the symbolic images above them: the ship (soon to be a ghost ship), the map, the globe and the landscape. All of these objects speak of time, history and legacy. Perhaps referencing the history of colonisation of cultures, 'foreign' lands and languages.

This image is enacting and repeating the complex and thorough mark-making, both dangerous and wonderful, that has gone on throughout human history.

Figureheads and Theory

After attending the Sydney Bienalle we returned in somewhat of a state of mental turmoil. Nigel and I have been having many a discussion about the potential benefit of reading theory around topic of interest and issues that might effect the production of images, in both technique, style and subject matter.

So Nigel has been battling with some pretty dense stuff, including Said, Descartes, Greenberg, Jameson, Lippard and a whole lot more.

It is taking a lot of brainstorming and image analysis to make some of this theory relevant to the production of art: if nothing else the reading has ensured that a lot of thought goes into the pre-production as well realising the importance of making room for a reflection period.

To the side here we have the image that Nigel produced for the 'Squared' show at Greenhill (images must be 30x30cm). It is called Figurehead and mark the beginning of a new direction in Nigel's work. It is bold and striking move away from the recent subject matter and has inspired Nigel to create more of these smaller images which allow the freedom to play with some of his new ideas.

Also, as a post note, Nigel's official website is finaly up and running - check it out at:

www.nigelhewitt.com.au

Three Worlds

And here is the completed image for a local Artists for Peace exhibition. It is entitled "Three Worlds" and is the first of Nigel's Paraffin Encaustic images.

I would like to continue by discussing the image, it's title and context within the up and coming exhibition, but i must do so with a prior note that it is my interpretation rather than Nigel's.

The title refers to the three levels in the image, the three worlds within our one. Perhaps, with this in mind the image is asking us to reconsider the preference that we give to only one part of our world. That which is in our everyday life and that we encounter only on a superficial basis.

There are also three different journeys taking place, that of the whale shark, the boat and the bird; all heading in the same direction, these three journeys are all connected, if not mirroring each other.

The flattened map of the earth is a suggestion of the human mindset, although we have the knowledge of the globe (as a spherical planet) we still often think in a linear and 'flat' way. We still refer to the 'east' and 'west' and this has growing cultural and social meaning and connotations that go beyond the physical layout of the world.

I find it difficult to ignore the connotations 'Three Worlds' as a title has with the economic structure of our world. We categorise countries according to their wealth in a hierarchical manner: the first, second and third world. The broad scale of this image and all it encompasses asks us to question how these categories implicate all that is beyond the human.

The three 'characters' (bird, boat, fish) in the image are heading away from us, into the distance, the horizon. Drawing us in and begging the question; where are we headed? Or, where are they going without us?

The image - with its subtle references to conflict, nature and peace - asks us to reflect on the status of the world and our own position within it. We are given space (as the medium creates depth and intrigue) to come at the is image, and hopefully the world, with quiet and thoughtful reflection. This attitude is one that in time, you would think, could in itself bring about more peace.

Enclasssic Encaustic

The latest lack of updates has been due to the endless hassles of Christmas (which appear not to be over until February) and then constant renovations on the house. Which practically involve Nigel way too much.

But today we are both back to it. Nigel is working on this variation of encaustic medium in a similar style to previous works. (It is actually the same smaller image i mentioned in a previous blog). He is working on it for an exhibition and prize run by the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia) called artists for peace (click and check out their website). Essentially an awesome idea, the work has to be thematically linked to the organisation of course. And I will update with an image as soon as I am provided with one.

I have included the above image because it is a detail from Jasper Johns' Flag (1954-55). Johns
used encaustic in its traditional form (a beeswax base). He literally embedded things inside his images. I guess looking at this image as a whole, the textured, layered and almost abject American flag, we could assume that Johns could have entered this into a similar prize.
Nigel instead is using a mixture of Paraffin and Micro-crystalline wax coloured with pigments and oil paints. These more refined types of wax make the surface even more translucent. As opposed to Johns' surfaces these images of Nigel's will more likely have a surface scraped clean and smooth. What exciting potential this medium has. And it is so great to see Nigel using more of a painting technique. This connection of what Nigel is doing and Johns' work is my interpretation rather than Nigel's motivation or instigation.

Next i will include an image of this prize piece in progress with the hope of discussing or reflecting upon how the image fits within the themes surround war and peace.