Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, Drink the wild air's salubrity.
- From "Considerations by the Way" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mulan Gallery is proud to present SurfaceScapes, an exhibition showcasing new paintings by Valerie Ng. The exhibition will run from 21 September to 27 October 2012.
Inspired mostly by the landscape and the elements from the artist's recent residency in Finland, the works in this collection are an exploration of the shifting light, mood and colours in the composition of the landscape with weather variances, and the transformation in organic shapes and forms as a result of atmospheric changes.
Moments of landscape conditions and transitions in the atmosphere are collated and captured in the abstract. Positioning the eye alternately far afield and up close, the landscape and subtle shifts in nature's movements form the fundamental basis for these compositions, which are then layered over and syncretised with colours-trasiting, emerging or obscured - and textures of surfaces in extreme close-up using evocative gestural strokes.
Swirling snow in the wind and the resulting white landscape after, and approaching storm, and a captivating sunset or sunrise are all vividly captured on the canvas, testaments to the manifold changes of the elements from the immense to the minute, whilst changing hues impart a spectrum of moods, from calm placidity to extreme volatility, when forces of nature build up and escape or create elemental shifts in the atmosphere.
Evocatively expressed in oils on canvas and mixed piece on papier‐mâché, the works in SurfaceScapes continues in Ng's characteristically dynamic study of colour, light, depth, form and texture, and outlines a potent thesis on nature, movement and light.