Gloria Petyarr (b. 1945, Australia)
[Bush Medicine]

I’ve encountered Petyarr’s paintings in several exhibitions and each time was amazed how they tricked my eye to perceive movement in a still canvas. I’ve spent quite some time studying them up close and from a distance. It must be the sheer amount of distinct brushstrokes carefully arranged in directional patterns supported by subtle shifts in colour that triggers my eye to follow their directions – and then overflows it with information that registers as a movement.

So if it is not “in the painting”, but rather in my own ability – and its limitations – to process visual information that the secret of this illusion lies, what else can my brain “extract” from information overload? I am making a dotted painting based on a particular “score” that also prescribes a prominent element of chance just to see if – and what – tricks it will play on me once finished.

Now I must admit that this entry is in a way unfair to Petyarr’s work that comes from a rich tradition and carries a lot of meanings and qualities that I fail to address here. However, the purpose of this blog is not to attempt a proper analysis and/or representation of the referred works, but rather to catalogue various influences, triggers and associations that I consider in my own practice.