Show opens March 10 and runs until the end of April

Yasmin Dubrau

This series of work originated during our month long residency at Driving Creek Railway in Coromandel last year, a special place steeped in history and stories. I took photographs at a nearby beach in brief moments of evening sunlight snagging on beach rocks, and casting long shadows across the sand and water. Many of the paintings I made during our residency were from my imagination based on this imagery. I found that the more I painted and repainted these scenes, the more the sense of scale and the location became ambiguous. With this pared down imagery, and a palette of increasingly golden and intensely saturated hues, I found the paintings leave me with more questions than answers, and feelings of surprise, and mysterious information.

The weavings of my paintings are like translations into a foreign language. They are the first that I have made using torn cotton fabric since learning to weave in this style in Japan. One of my pleasures in these works is the aspect of them having already had a previous life, an unknowable history, as an article of clothing or futon cover, sheet, curtain etc. As new weaving they are, quite literally, woven into a new story. I’m delighted to finally be exhibiting a body of work that brings these two aspects of my art practice together.

Scott Brough

Working with different clays and exploring their inherent qualities has always been an integral part of my work. While in Coromandel, we had the opportunity to collect a few bags of raw natural clay. Finding several different types (grey, white and red) within a small area, I decided to process them as minimally as possible, to preserve the natural characteristics of each. The resulting clays each had a unique feel, and required different handling compared to commercial pottery clay. There was a process of learning what each clay was capable of, and how to work to its strengths.

These pieces have also been inspired by the classical ceramics of China and Korea; with their light blue glazes, known as Celadon, which originated in China a thousand years ago and was quickly prized by many cultures around the world. The glazes are very sensitive to the colour and texture of the clay beneath. While they can seem opaque, the glaze scatters and refracts light, in a way that allows the pieces to continue revealing themselves over time. I have enjoyed taking cues from shapes I have seen in Yasmin’s painting, allowing the forms of pieces to develop beyond their function.

All paintings and weaving by Yasmin Dubrau

All pottery by Scott Brough

All paintings are on acid-free paper and framed with conservation grade 99% UV protective glass