Angelina Pwerle (b. 1951, Australia)
Bush Plum, 2009

National Gallery, Canberra (ACT), Australia / Visited on 19/11/2019

I am fascinated with the tension between the figurative and abstract here. I see something totally different than the title suggests. Where should I go from here? Should I try to find a way to see what the title offers? Should I take the mismatch as a sign that this painting is not meant for me – as I don’t have the key to it? Should I just enjoy whatever that appeals to me in it without trying too hard to reconcile it with the title?

I like when the artwork gets me thinking, triggering new questions and leading to new insights. Honestly, I do not care very much whether that was the artist’s intention or not. I am engaging with the artwork, not with the artist. I can not get into somebody else’s metaphorical shoes – or head – anyway. And while there is always potential for some intersubjectivity, I am also happy to embrace multivocality and pluralism that makes the world richer, less oppressive and more interesting.

So I am aiming to make works that have the same ambiguous quality I have experienced here, and I find multiple repetitions of the same element – that do not follow easily identifiable rules – an interesting way to achieve that. Especially when it can trigger the eye to see something that was not intentionally planted there.