‘There are cultural considerations to be made, in diversity, and the refinements of ancient thought, which not always obvious, are inherent to the very mediums in use. This art began and was once the stuff of earth or the silkworm or in the form of scrolls, or etched plates on handmade paper, but is now the very essence of art.’
— Brett Ballard
I am Brett Ballard. I welcome you and commend this exhibition Beneath the Surface to you. My thanks to the visionary and energetic Aileen Moka and to Wang Yue for her accomplished curation of the exhibition and to the artists Larissa Tao Liu, Helen Morgan, Jessica Smith, Tao Aimin and Zhang Shuo.
Beneath the Surface is such an intriguing title and proposition. No less the axiom quoted in the exhibition text, ‘As above, so below, as within, so without.’ I want you to hold onto that thought and add to it another thought which connects matter, the material of art to representation. Can we think of any other form that gives values to our thoughts and feelings as art does. There is literature and music of course, but here we see with our eyes and hear and visualise another realm.
But, and I cannot emphasis this more clearly than to say that the process at hand, the making of art is alchemical. It is an ancient thought that dates to the beginning of time when man – actually let’s not call they man because this is a woman’s only exhibition – turns base metal into gold and matter into jewelled thought. Images of contemplation, of serenity; something free of dogma, something for when the hurly-burly of our divided world is done.
These questions are very much in the minds of the artists exhibiting in Beneath the Surface whose grasp is as wide and as particular as their media is different. I encourage you to engage with the works in this exhibition and with the artists who are with us tonight. There are cultural considerations to be made, in diversity, and the refinements of ancient thought, which not always obvious, are inherent to the very mediums in use. This art began and was once the stuff of earth or the silkworm or in the form of scrolls, or etched plates on handmade paper, but is now the very essence of art.
Look about and discover what these artists have brought to us by way of questions and their materials. It warrants your time and close attention. Amidst a declarative world it is silence that speaks loudest. There is no higher recommendation to make other than the works that surround us tonight. I officially and full heartedly declare Beneath the Surface open.
Brett Ballard
