CATHERINE HULL SINCLAIR | Hope is the thing with feathers
10 - 25 November 2018
Silver Leaf Art Box is excited to present an exhibition of new paintings by Mornington Peninsula artist Catherine Hull Sinclair. Sinclair has recently returned from Italy where she attended a four-week Master Class with the Jerusalem Studio School.
This series sees Sinclair delve more deeply into recurring themes in her work – ceramic forms, decorative pattern and the natural world. Native Australian birds are present in each painting and are placed in composition with familiar domestic objects. The juxtaposition of these elements invites contemplation of the complex relationship between humans and nature.
Inherent in Sinclair’s paintings is the transience of life. Decay is evoked in the beauty of a parrot chick skeleton lying broken on an English plate with a fork placed casually nearby. Death is whispered in the life affirming Feeding time as a parent feeds its chick a moth near insect debris from previous meals.
Sinclair’s surreal scenes generate curiosity and elicit meaning. With irony, respect, beauty and humour, Sinclair’s love of nature and concern for its future resonate in this poignant series of paintings.
Images: (from left) Feeding time 2018, oil on gesso board, 20 x 15 cm, Kingfisher in dilly bag 2018, oil on linen on board, 40.5 x 30.5 cm, Galah and teapot 2018, oil on linen, 41 x 35.5 cm.