A deeply metaphysical resonance imbues Seabastion Toast’s current works. They communicate a patient seeking of the light amidst the ‘shadowlands’ of emotional and painterly challenges. There is an understanding that life’s cycles will in due course bring a return to the colours of joy. The exhibition’s title, How the Light Gets In, is derived from a Leonard Cohen song that had resonated with her personal experiences.
“The images are essentially collages of everyday moments,” Seabastion tells. “My goal is to create paintings that reveal themselves slowly. Initially, the works were an investigation into how light shapes a form and changes it. The way pattern could be used to flatten or deepen the depiction of 3D space was also a major consideration. I had been looking for the marriage of figuration and abstraction. By concerning myself with these formal elements, the meaning and metaphor developed alongside but not dependant on the work.”
“Making pictures is a mesmerizing activity for me,” Seabastion continues. “Placing patches of color next to each other and watching with incredulity as an image emerges is one of the most thrilling things that I do – carving light!”
There is not a fixed, preconceived narrative to the figurative works. For Seabastion the subject is entirely secondary. The components of her settings are abstracted in vivid hues to suggest the movement of light across the canvas. The viewer is obliged to ponder what the personages obscured amidst these kaleidoscopic arrays might symbolise and conceive a story for themselves.
“The patterning and manipulation of 3D space serves to plot a path for the viewer,” Seabastion explains. “Various aspects reveal themselves at different speeds so that a painting unfolds more like a piece of music or a poem. The imagery is built up slowly with lots of layers. Time is a very important element, both in the creation of the work and the viewing. I am interested in creating paintings that encourage the onlooker to take the time to observe, to slow the passage of time and thereby participate in a visual symphony.”
Seabastion furthers that as in the figurative and interior works, her still life renditions are not so much about the objects depicted but rather the attempt to arrange the elements as one would in an abstract painting. Moth and Yellow Tape is a fine example of such.
“The world is not static and the ever-shifting light is so elusive,” Seabastion imparts. “I am continually thinking about paint, about how we perceive things – how light rakes across a white wall, how the air can act as a prism and scatter rainbows. I want to take the viewer on an unhurried visual journey. Like the shifting conditions in light, focus and atmosphere, I chase the ethereal to gain a greater understanding of our existence.”
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There’s a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen, Anthem
JACQUELINE HOUGHTON
Melbourne-born Seabastion Toast now lives and works in Coffs Harbour, NSW. She holds a BA Visual Arts (major-painting), Southern Cross University 2000; Cross Institutional Study, COFA, Sydney 2000; University Exchange, Pratt Art Institute, New York 1999. Toast has won a number of significant art awards including: D’Arcy Doyle $10,000 Landscape Prize 2021, 2014 and 2nd place 2017; Hangers Award, Glover Prize, Evandale, TAS 2019; Peoples Choice Award, QRAA, Flying Arts 2013; Marymount Art Show Painting Prize, Gold Coast 2012; $10,000 Gainsborough Greens Art Award 2011; Acquisitive Prize, Southern Cross University 1998. She was Highly Commended in Glover Prize, Evandale, TAS 2019; D’Arcy Doyle Still Life Prize 2015 and has been a Finalist in Evelyn Chapman Award, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney 2022; Portia Geach Portrait Prize, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney 2022; Brisbane Portrait Prize, Brisbane Powerhouse 2022; Rick Amor Self Portrait Prize, Melbourne 2022; Lester Portrait Prize, WA 2021; Naked and Nude Manning Valley Art Prize, NSW 2021; Hurford Portrait Prize, Lismore, NSW 2020; Heysen Landscape Prize, Handorf, SA 2020; EMSLA Still Life Award, Wollongong, NSW 2018, 2017; Dust Temple Portrait Award, Gold Coast 2017; Gold Coast Art Prize 2014; Eutick Memorial Still Life Award 2015, 2014; Cliftons Art Prize 2014; Border Art Prize, Tweed Regional Gallery 2014; SCAP Caloundra Regional Gallery 2013; Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2013; Lismore Portrait Prize, NSW 2013; Mambo Art Prize, London 2011; Worthies Portrait Prize, Sydney 2011; Caldera Art Prize, Murwillumbah 2011; Highly Commended, Ocean Shores Art Expo 2011 and was Recipient of the Buzz Grant, Australia Council, Sydney 2003. Her work is represented in the Southern Cross University and Mirvac Group Collections.
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