Cathy BLANCHFLOWER

born 1971, Brighton, United Kingdom
lives and works Melbourne, Victoria

For Cathy Blanchflower rigour and structure play a part in her artistic process, but her concern with painting is primarily about communicating and sharing feeling - not ideas - and the final result is an experience, rather than an intellectual position. She is not particularly concerned where she sits in the pantheon of art, nor hindered by the outdated ideology of "the new". She is intent on the formation of a visual language.

Op Art, a movement that first came to prominence in the 1960s in the work of Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely comes to mind when looking for references, as does the influence of Islamic art. The extraordinary beauty of Islamic art is rooted in an abstract ethos - few images are tolerated - and the purpose of these patterns, like the paintings in Catholic churches, is as a spritual bridge, a reflection if you will, between the viewer and God. Blanchflower's work is about reflection - reflected light and reflected emotions. There is a spirituality pervading the works but the paintings are not particularly mysterious and recalling the words of Frank Stellar - what you see is what you get.

For the past twelve years Blanchflower has been patiently and rigorously building up a strong body of works. Her paintings are stylistically easily recognisable for her attention to detail and a painstaking process and quality. Circular, wavy lines have recently taken over from the straight collections of squares and diagonals, which were the basic structure of her earlier work . The overall diagonals and passages across the surface through repetition are still there but the starting point and therefore the overall effect is different. The colour relations have also become somewhat closer and subtle in contrast although the overall effect is the opposite. The paintings have freshness and an almost celebratory air, the brushstrokes, although still betraying the discipline of structure are more painterly and free. Blanchflower is no longer mapping out the paintings in pencil but rather starting her patterns on the canvas and seeing where they lead her – and us in the act of viewing.

Other selected artwork acquisitions