E M E R G E

Kerin Casey | Jesse Smith | Bridget Griffin

30 March - 27 April 2024

Kerin Casey

The key thesis of Kerin's practice is capturing volume. Capturing volume requires the use of a surface to attempt to contain it, so the work becomes about what is in-between surfaces. Predominantly this applies to physical space, but it can also relate to contextual space, like the space between painting and sculpture, or the space between modern and contemporary. Abstraction itself could also be regarded as an in-between space, a provisional language between thought and gesture. ​ Space is always her starting point and most important material. It is a void that divides and unites simultaneously, initiating a series of questions that have developed into a methodology for utilising supporting materials of plywood and paint. How can these materials be used to hold space? How can the conditions of sculpture and painting work together to challenge spatial relations within the work? If a surface can capture volume, how can that volume then be seen? The objects in her more recent work are made up of separate pieces that have been brought together by tension, negotiation, and cooperation. They activate and support one another to become abstract forms, united by colour, connection, and space.

Jesse Smith

Jesse Smith bangs out art like his life depends on it. His work is fresh, free and raw. Teeming with explosive energy. Paint runs and drips over solid colour blocks - lyrical like Nas is to hip hop. Lines jump around as playful as a child in the sand - experimental as jazz. Ripped up, unabashed, paintings as punk as the Pistols. Sticking two fingers up to conformity and pretty pictures on gallery walls. Sometimes pieces spill off the confines of a canvas- splattering onto his garage walls or a friend’s shoes. Yet don’t be fooled! This unconstrained, emotive approach, whilst expressive, is cleverly considered finding balance between the chaos and the calm both internal and materialized..

Bridget Griffin

Bridget Griffins practice is rooted in the exploration of found materials and their potential in a painting context. The work explores material possibilities and their limitations in combination with each other. The outcome of a work, for instance, is often determined by how much of a single material there is, how a material’s form can be changed, or how different materials can physically fit together. Regarding the selection of these thrown-away bits and pieces, all are chosen for their physical properties, with a secondary interest in their personal histories, which for the most part is left up to the imagination. Through making use of the no-longer useful materials that previously existed as part of purposeful objects, or projects, the idea of function and use-value becomes apparent. One can wonder why we pertain value to things and how the value of something might change when the environment or conditions shift. Courtesy of consumerism, chance, curb-sides, and shorelines.