Substratum

catalogue essay by Lewellyn Riley-Haynes

Within traditional paintings and drawings, an under-layer is typically the base for subsequent layers, building up to the final image. Substratum draws on contemporary practices of working in layers, where systems of representation re-emerge by revealing the foundations of their construction. These artists – Kristone Capistrano, Elizabeth Creixell, Emily Ebbs, Mungo Howard, Chelsea Lehmann, Thea Anamara Perkins, Daniel Press, Anna Louise Richardson, and Christopher Zanko – are brought together by their methods of unveiling the substrata of life through their practices. In the same vein, surfaces of objects and sites are reconsidered, where the layers reveal entirely different foundations.

Substratum takes its name from ontological roots. Posited by Aristotle in Metaphysics, substance is categorised into three definitions: form (what kind of thing), matter (what a thing is made of), and the composite of both. Further, substance is subject to change. The exhibition encounters potential moments of change through different mediums such as drawings, linocuts, prints, paint, and wood. These moments, whether found in history, in a place, in transit, in nature, or in oneself, are layered on an overall ‘essence’ that persists. While these artists present these moments, they uncover a moment for the onlooker. With the same impression that a pencil makes on paper, a moment impresses onto us.

This exhibition acts as the conjuncture of roads travelled, captured memories, emotions, and sites as the artists reveal themselves through their subjects. Through the examination of the substrata that forms images, insights into the impressions that form who we are can be found through the variety of materials that the artists use. These impressions are varied; urban and suburban landscapes are seen to be holders of memories. History is assessed through rural mythologies and understandings of which national narratives persist and how they inform or challenge Australian identities. Personal experiences and connections are found, from one’s first and foundational experiences of the external world to a reflection of lives lived and challenges met. These impressions are laid on a substratum of the self, and its persistence through change. Substratum is inspired by Sara Ahmed’s thinking in her book, Cultural Politics of Emotion (2014). In it, she unpacks the term ‘impression’ and its affective uses, highlighting the ‘press’ within ‘impression’, the artists provide ways in which they ‘impress upon us’.

Ultimately, serves to leave impressions as it surveys them. The boundaries between materiality and metaphysical experiences are blurred. Here, all are welcome to reflect on what makes these impressions last, and what lingers behind.

Lewellyn Riley-Haynes

© January 2022