STALA CONTEMPORARY announces the solo exhibitions of The paths less trodden by Di Cubitt and AUTOMATON by Marcia Espinosa.
“The paths less trodden” – DI CUBITT
This current body of work explores Di Cubitt’s concerns about our experience and relationship to the landscape we inhabit and visit. In particular she is drawn to how memory, myths and the imagination affect our perception and emotional attachment to certain places. The paintings are developed over time through revisiting and walking in the landscapes of the south west of WA of two very different locations – the Cape to Cape track and the Frankland River north Walpole. Working from a mixture of photographs and memory, the final works draw on a combination of felt experience and mixed memories translated through paint into images that are part memory and part imagination.
“AUTOMATON” – MARCIA ESPINOSA
‘I have a recurring picture in my head of an 1800’s mechanical automaton sitting at a wind-up piano playing repeatedly and mindlessly the same tune. This image has strongly influenced the series of work I have made for this exhibition – AUTOMATON.
It seems to me that we live in times obsessed with efficiency and automation, we have the most advanced technologies, fast internet and real time communication. We are permanently connected and wired with everyone and everything. However, despite these advances and innovations, we see the signs of obsolescence and disconnection everywhere.
Our minds and homes are plugged into devices, we are surrounded by miles and miles of cables. Living in large and complex societies, we have become accustomed to the fact that sharing physical space no longer means sharing experiences, we are almost unaware of each other’s existence. Everyone living in their own universe and socially distanced from others. The paradox is that despite this isolation our desires and cravings are the same. These ‘wants’ are without reflection or thought, frequently our decisions are being made by the ‘omniscient’ computer algorithms.
Disconnection has become so evident in our day-to-day encounters, that person-to-person relationships are no longer valued. Programs and machines are replacing human interactions – automation and the ‘big data’ are the new ‘Gurus’.
We are Automatons playing the big piano but are we playing our own tune?’
STALA Contemporary Art Gallery and Projects: 12 Cleaver Street, West Perth 6005
Opening hours: Wed – Sat 10am – 4pm & by appointment
(featured image: Di Cubitt – Stepping off #1 2020, oil on canvas, 80 x 120cm)
In line with current COVID health guidelines all visitors are required to register contact details upon entry.