As we edge slowly into the stormier months, why not lose yourself in the raging majesty of Sydney-based artist Susie Dureau’s solo exhibition The Overview Effect? Showing at Curatorial and Co gallery from March 10-20, it depicts the might of crashing waves on large-scale canvases. The hurl and burl of these billowy beauties are inspired by the Romanticism movement. Dureau whipped up the works while in lockdown on Sydney’s northern beaches. That spell heightened her appreciation for the power of the natural world.
The title of the exhibition comes from a term coined by writer Frank White. It refers to the awe experienced by astronauts looking down on the big blue planet below them from space, and their reports of how that changes them, making them care more about how we are all connected.
Dureau says: “When I paint, as when I am close to nature, I am aware of a sense of mystery and recognition occurring in unison. It feels like an ancient legacy that is deeply rooted in my body revealing itself one mark at a time. My paintings have been described as more like biographies than depictions of places and this resonates with me. If we can begin to truly understand how we are related to the oceans and clouds perhaps we can then make the meaningful shift in consciousness which will characterise the next phase in human evolution.”
Sophie Vander, director of Curatorial and Co, adds: “There’s a peaceful, meditative quality to Susie’s works, created at such a scale that you really experience awe as you would looking at nature.”
