DIZZYING PERSPECTIVE

Dizzying Perspective [inspired by Tim Winton] Oil on linen 50 x 50 cm 2014

 

 

Dizzying Perspective relates to my last two posts and their accompanying new paintings Falling Out Into It and The Universe Draws You Out Like A Multi-Dimensional Horizon Yes, again the terrific speech The Island Seen and Felt: Some Thoughts About Landscapes by Tim Winton at London's Royal Academy in November 2013 has struck a chord of inspiration in me! You can hear the speech HERE

 

Dizzying Perspective is deceptively simple....so say myself! For me....there are many questions-Are we drawn towards the dark circle? Are we propelled away from it? Is it the only point of reference? Is it solid or is it a new portal? Where am I in relation to the 'scape' before me? Is it a vast 'scape' or a microscopic one? Is the dark circle Earth or is it a galactic body seen from Earth? Or, maybe Earth is nowhere around in this part of the Universe? Where am I?

 

I am sure you might have even more questions.

 

Words by Tim Winton, which I previously quoted in my earlier post Falling Out Into It, have again inspired me:   At night in the desert the sky sucks at you, star-by-star, galaxy-by-galaxy. You feel as if you could fall out into it at any moment. It's terrifyingly vertiginous.

 

VERTIGO

This time the bit that got me excited is It's terrifyingly vertiginous. Why? Because, I sense that Winton uses the word terrifying, not simply to suggest a scary physical experience where loss of balance and dizziness induce stumbling and nausea. Metaphorically speaking terrifyingly vertiginous may be more about the revelatory possibilities of new insights and perspectives revealed in the process of letting go...falling out into it.

 

But, I want to return to my previously mentioned ideas of untethering landscape from Earth-bound horizons. The terrifyingly vertiginous experience of falling out into the Universe is provocative, because it invites us to let go of Earth-bound horizons. It actually demands us to leave the safety of the known to welcome new perspectives of ourselves, our planet and our Universal environment.

 

FEAR

Essentially, I think, Tim Winton suggests we confront fears of letting go, fears of the unknown, fears of shifting perspectives. I've been with people who are literally fearful of the distance in the Australian landscape. These people, mainly city born and bred or from Europe, actually expressed their fears in words and with real physical reactions. They felt more than uncomfortable with the open skies and the vast often desolate distances. Their physical reactions were obvious: strange tiredness, gripping themselves or anchor points in a vehicle, normally confident gaits affected by trepidation, eyes darting hither and thither...all signs suggesting a sense of vertigo. But, maybe we need to place ourselves at the mercy of distance, fall out into it, let go...and in the terrifying vertiginous experience we may discover new ways to live and be, new questions and thus possible answers to problems that are plaguing us with their intensity and danger. Who knows? But, I suggest it is worth trying!

 

Dizzying Perspective is similar to an earlier painting which I called Where? This painting asks questions to, indeed its title is a question. It asks about time and space. Both paintings, I sense, move beyond their physical limits of size ie: 50 x 50 cm. There is something quite satisfying about painting an image of Universal vastness on a 50 x 50 cm canvas! A bit like the size differential of Dr. Who's marvellous Tardis.

 

 

Where? Oil on linen 50 x 50 cm

 

 

GOOD NEWS

My entry for the biennial $20,000 Stanthorpe Art Prize has been selected as a finalist. This means that the actual painting now gets sent to Stanthorpe to hang with the other finalists and to be considered for the prize which is announced at the end of February. I shall keep you posted!

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com