Karen Benton, Melinda Clyne, Kate Coyne and Jude Williams
Open 11am - 5pm Friday – Sunday, 28th May – 13th June 2021
Opening event Saturday 29th May 2-5pm
Artist Talk 5th June 2pm
Lightness of Being is a group exhibition by Karen Benton, Melinda Clyne, Kate Coyne and Jude Williams which engages with the concepts considered in Milan Kundera’s ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’, where the notion of ‘being’ is associated with constraints - a concept appreciated by these four women artists as they balance their art practices with substantial commitments to family and work.
Some say life is more bearable when there is a burden of responsibility. Others say it’s better to have no connections and see how light life can be. Sometimes it’s the stressors of life that bring people together. However, we also love what the lightness of life can offer individuals. The answer is not conclusive.
The artists bring together painting, sculpture, textiles, photography and video to materialise works that consider light, lightness and reflectivity. The exhibition makes visible a network of similarities and resonances between the artists, but it also foregrounds the formal, material, and visual language specificity of their practices.
The deceptive nature of how the substance of objects is perceived, or by extension, our connections with the world around us - is evoked in their work as they endow ephemera with form. Viewers are induced to contemplate the nature of the material and its allusion to freedom, both physical and spiritual.
The artists’ works appear in flux, having a primary unrest and challenge, exploring the idea of ‘something higher’ in life, and expressing the struggles and tensions that come with it – similar to the artistic processes of production.
Expressions of lightness in this exhibition are underpinned by an understanding that it is impossible to separate the lightness/weight opposition into a clear dichotomy. On the surface there is an abstraction of lightness inspiring curiosity and wonder while lying beneath are the ‘heavier’ layers of meaning and concepts, resilience and endurance.
Karen Benton
www.karenbenton.com
@abstractkaren
Melinda Clyne
www.melindaclyne.com
@melindaclyne
Kate Coyne
www.katecoyne.com.au
@ kate__coyne
Jude Williams
www.judewilliams.org
@judewilliams_
Conditions of entry:Please do not come if you are unwell or a contact of a COVID-19 case.Use the hand sanitisers provided at the entrance to Articulate.Complete your contact tracing information on entry to Articulate.Keep 1.5 metres distance from others or wear a face mask