Cathy Quinn’s 6th exhibition with Anthea Polson Art was inspired by the experience of her month-long Artist Residency at La Maison in Beaumont de Pertuis last year. Situated in southern France, the hilltop medieval town dates back to the 11th century. The paintings are ‘reflections of a journey’ she much enjoyed there – a visual recalling of those times and place.
The First Glimpse image resonates Quinn’s excitement of her first day in the aptly named Beaumont locale. Waking predawn she’d trekked down below the village. It relays her awe at the township’s tiny clusters of age-old buildings nestled into the mountainside. The Soft Horizons painting illustrates the scene as the mist lifted and the sun rose bathing the sky in golden swaths of colour. A different perspective is evidenced in Birds Eye View that shows the vista Quinn observed having climbed all the way to the peak of the mountain.
Quinn recalls ‘journeys’ along stonewalled paths and finding herself surrounded by rich hues of green, yellow and purple manifested in the abundance of grapevines, wheat fields and lavender meadows. “The morning laneways were quiet, apart from the crunching sound as my shoes hit the ground,” she imparts. “The soft breeze carried the melody of bird song and the cooing of doves enhancing the serene, contemplative atmosphere.”
Essentially ‘memory paintings’, the imagery conveys a synthesis of inner and outer worlds. Rather than being realistic representations, they seek to express the experience of an immersion in landscape. Perceived topography has been divested of solidity in the flow of oil medium and spontaneous gesture across the canvas.
Quinn’s artworks communicate a sense of joyousness in their luminous colour arrangements. They reflect the atmospheric delight of her physical and allegorical journeying where consciousness was elevated to a realm beyond everyday concerns. “It is the discovery of a gentle presence and the rhythm of stillness rarely found in city life that I aim to convey to the viewer,” Quinn reveals.
JACQUELINE HOUGHTON
Having grown up in Melbourne, Cathy Quinn subsequently spent many years living in London and Hong Kong. She has been an exhibiting artist since 1985. Her training includes: BA (Fine Art) at Chisholm Institute (now Monash University) 1986; Christies Education, Australian Art, 1997; La Trobe College of Education, Studio & Practice Development, 2010. In England, Quinn worked for London Contemporary Art and Grenville Gibbs Corporate Art. Upon returning to Melbourne, she became the Australian representative for London Contemporary Art. Quinn managed the National Gallery of Victoria Business Council and has volunteered her services to Christies, Hong Kong and the Heide Museum of Modern Art, Victoria. Her awards include: Invited Finalist Tattersalls Landscape Art Prize, 2019; Finalist St Kevins Art Show, 2018; Winner St Kevins Art Show – best modern painting, 2016; awarded High Commendation Lucato Prize, Chisholm Institute, 1985.
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