The new exhibition which opens on the 23rd November, 6.30-8pm in The Small Gallery, ARI is Sleeping, Dreaming, Waking by Lorna Syme. Currently based in St Andrews, Lorna graduated from Moray School of Art in 2015.
An interest in both art and science features in her work; looking at how materials behave and the various processes involved in making art. Lorna works predominantly in watercolour, exploring the unique properties of the paint as it combines fluidity, resolubility and varying levels of transparency.
‘This creative process reminds me of aspects of the experience of sleeping, dreaming and waking. What might begin as a fairly unconscious and unsystematic fluid exploration of colour can resolve into images which appear more representational than abstract, open to conscious interpretation by the viewer.
My practice in this respect has been influenced by Gerhard Richter’s abstract watercolour techniques – having the aim of pure abstraction, however appreciating that representational forms can be apparent in the finished painting. Significant to me as well are Joseph Beuys’s ideas on art, such as his belief that first-hand experience of materials can allow us to discover the forces that travel through things. In researching such themes, I also note Roger Hilton’s belief that abstraction is just a step towards a new kind of figuration.’
Lorna Syme
Sleeping, Dreaming, Waking will run to the 6th of January.