Nocturnes: A collection of paintings by Elizabeth Barnett for Melbourne Art Fair with James Makin Gallery
Nocturne- a work of art dealing with evening or night; especially: a dreamy pensive composition for the piano.
In the small hours with the small children, savouring these quiet moments when the moon shines brightly on the bush surrounds and nocturnal animals call to each other from the canopy above. Vestiges of summer scatter the tables: dried banksias and shells collected from beaches, while leaves void of their chlorophyll hang like drying washing, from branches in large jugs atop patterned fabric. A love for textiles is celebrated in these works; stripes and floral fabrics meander across round tables holding small precious objects like traveling vessels.
These still-lives capture a moment of flux; colour and objects wrestling, but harmony prevailing. Every night in our house a soundtrack of piano lullabies plays on repeat going by the domestic moniker of ‘baby music’, but essentially a ‘Nocturne’. My mind wanders in the manner of these cascading lullabies, to still life works not yet painted. The palette is romantic, conjuring chiaroscuro light, plum, burnt umber, and creamy white details.
The children often rearrange the still-life setups and attempts are made to honour their contributions. An apple eaten to the core or mandarin peeled, shells rearranged and books thumbed through. A quilt hand-stitched from black fabric and scraps, half-finished and bound for the boy’s bed, in the meantime serves another purpose as a prop for paintings.
The flying geese design, so interesting to paint when folded and bunched up. The line of triangles, abstracted shapes that are pleasing to the eye. The work of Anne Truitt is often present in mind, the considered colours and placement within her sculptural works and the balance she celebrated between home, family life and her creative endeavours.
Inn these works both the stillness and wakefulness of night and snatches of music, fragmented moments and memory stitched together.
