Opening The Door On Curiosity is David Green’s third solo exhibition with Anthea Polson Art. Contrary to most artists, Green begins each new work with an established title. “Having the title in place gives me a clearer understanding of what I am sensing to achieve, in essence, the journey is clearer,” he discloses.
With a touch of humour, Green reveals that the works fall into three distinct but related themes. “I sometimes feel like a juggler keeping multi coloured balls in the air – only in my case a plethora of ideas seeking visual reality. Oh to be an octopus with a pen at the end of each arm and be able to draw eight things simultaneously. A juggling octopus, now there is an image! I recently described the process of making art as like trying to catch a butterfly with an unhooked fishing rod.”
Upon retirement from Charles Sturt University and conferred the title Emeritus Professor, Visual Arts, Green relocated to Buderim and was again able to immerse himself in his own art practice. He tells that after a lifetime of academe and administration, he found himself looking backwards and it was “logical to go to drawing”.
Green’s incredibly intricate large works take months to complete. Many hours are spent every day delineating his musings on paper and archival board with acrylic inks, coloured pencils, gold and copper foil, as well as 23carat gold leaf. In the interaction between medium and meaning all sense of time is suspended and we follow him through the door into his curious realms.
The wonderfully abstracted Mrs Moe’s Mum’s Art Room is described as being created specifically to amuse and interact with his and Veronica Cay’s daughter Emma, “she is of a decidedly strong personality and character”. Green tells that the name Mrs Moe is a figment of his imagination, however the imagery has actual relevance. “The art room in question is a pastiche of Veronica’s studio – tables overflowing with containers, jugs, dried and paper flowers and an audience of sculptural pieces. It represents a homage to the bond between mother and child”. The cascading gold and metal leaf attests to such.
The works, Hide And Seek – Coming Ready Or Not and Orange Windmill continue with the notion of relationships. “In Hide And Seek, strips of wallpapers are symbols of different rooms in which someone might be hiding. The seeker is moving quickly between each space like a fish in an aquarium and then abruptly stopping in wait,” explains Green. “Orange Windmill is concerned with the idea of inside-outside play – freedom and containment”.
The large Night Fishing work again exemplifies dualities. Here it is night and day, darkness and light. Green describes it as two intertwined landscapes connected by wandering timelines and shifting cloud formations. Overhead and almost hidden from view, fish swimming under a dark round moon may be discerned whilst below, daylight’s sun amidst the red-hued environment.
“It All Seemed So Far Away and Over The Hill And Not So Far Away continue with the threads of activity but in these cases, that of an adult,” Green tells. “I have a son who is a volunteer fire fighter and these works illustrate the dangers of facing an inferno in order to bring safety to others”. Green’s very expressive process in rendering such a scenario heightens the visual impact.
The small works on archival board abstractly embody Green’s third theme of treasure maps to the hidden riches from the past that are still waiting to be found. They are “golden landscapes” emblazoned in metal foil to emphasise the glorious bounty of childhood imagination. “The tooth fairy and an Easter egg hunt are not myths to those experiencing the event. Nor were the buried Viking ships at the bottom of the garden for my brother who once upon a time, intent on finding, dug six foot deep holes in the lawn!” divulges Green.
“Finally, Dreams That Vanish In A Moment links the exhibition’s three conceptual groupings. As time passed dreams were closed off. There really was a Father Christmas until there wasn’t, but I’m still chasing that elusive butterfly,” Green concludes. This work is an extraordinary amalgamation of images that beckon the viewer to come enter the door into a place where past, present and future are assimilated in wondrous harmony.
JACQUELINE HOUGHTON
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