 |
| Images © Linda Swinfield |
Newcastle Art Space gallery is filled with images and
objects created between 2002 and 2016 by prolific artist, teacher, researcher, mentor
and writer Linda Swinfield. In her
exhibition title Closer to Family: After
18 years there is double meaning referring to her family research bringing her closer to family knowledge and her planned physical relocation closer to her family. Linda is mapping her family’s history, presenting the viewer with
glimpses, personal memoirs, re-contexualised artefacts and traces of past and
current lives. Through her reinvention,
Linda continues to create contemporary artefacts connecting past into present. Selected
works from her 2009 Masters studies at The University of Newcastle (Haecceity - Family, Object & Memory) are
included in the exhibition.
Linda talked about her multi-disciplinary practice that
utilises the print as object, while
considering methodologies merging ‘paint to print’ and print to paint’ relationships. It is all about family, identity, memory,
social history and storytelling. The
universal human desire to experience ‘a sense of belonging’ - to family, to a
written and visual history, and to location (site) and common ground is
paramount. Family recipes and
photographs are transcribed into the surface of panels of lino found amongst
her father’s possessions and previously used in his working life as a
linoleum salesman. Tin houses are
imprinted with familial words and road map images. Linda continues to
investigate the past, travelling from place to place visiting where others have
lived, worked and passed, tracking and marking out their stories into a
dialogue of continual discovery and re-invention. There is a shift occurring in her own life
which has directed her towards searching for a new place to belong. Her
research has led her to the Blue Mountains, a region described by Linda as ‘feeling
like home, like I belong’ although never having lived there. Linda is dedicated to her son Sidney, her art practice
and teaching. Moving forward she seeks space
for the family and her work to continue to flourish. A must see exhibition for those who know
Linda, have been taught, influenced and mentored by her, and particularly for
those interested in a multi-disciplinary approach to an art practice that
places ‘printmaking’ predominantly at
its centre.
 |
| Images © Linda Swinfield |
Gallery hours Thurs to Sunday 12noon to 5pm.
