Slow Down. Take a breath.
Lauren Kennedy’s Slow Dance exhibition is an exercise in raw, natural energy shaped by her experience of the East MacDonnell Ranges, Arrenete Land, Central Australia.
The body of work was inspired by a recent artist’ trip to Ruby Gap, 400km northeast of Alice Springs, where Lauren was guided by the energetic forces of the landscape. Her style balances figurative and abstract expressionism, composed of organic mark-making that captures the nuances and emotive pull of the central desert.
“I noticed that I was painting slower and more mindfully there. I especially felt a strong connection to Trephina Gorge, it was nurturing and feminine like a warm hug from my mother or nona.
“It was as if this ancient land was asking me sink into it and feel completely at ease,” said Ms Kennedy.
Rather than painting polished, manicured landscapes, Lauren examines Australia’s essential, unruly shapes that align closest with the human experience of fragility, vulnerability, and
resilience.
Her signature method layers different materials: acrylic, oil and pastels, honouring the integrity of each medium to create depth and a feeling of immersion into the energy of place.
Painted from sketches, photograph and memory, some artworks capture the meditative quality and stillness of the landscape, while others channel the “higher energy felt in the riverbeds at sundown as we gathered around the fire.”
“After a week of being remote and disconnected from the digital world, it was jarring to return to the heightened pace of the city. I knew then I wanted to call this work Slow Dance to encapsulate the feeling of the Central Desert.
“These paintings intend to remind us to slow down, take a breath, and dance in the kitchen!”
Slow Dance opens at The Doghouse Gallery in South Fremantle at 6pm on Thursday, November 3 and will run until November 13.
For Previews or details please email Lauren
Images: Raquel Aranda