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| F
i r e a n d W a t e r |
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| The
Dashwood Gallery, Hall Place, Bexley, 2002
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| The
Dashwood Gallery is a part of the superb Tudor mansion, Hall Place,
in the London suburb of Bexley. The title Fire and Water
was chosen partly because of its resonances in alchemy, poetry and song
typical of the Tudor period but more particularly because Sir Francis
Dashwood (after whom The Dashwood Gallery is named) had owned Hall Place, having
inherited it in 1772. The three Fire paintings involved
many weeks spent throwing cupfuls of paint, starting with the bright
oranges and reds and building layer upon darker layer and, towards the
end, using gravity by tipping the painting to make the paint run away
from the centre. Accounts that Susan read of Dashwood, the notorious
rake and leader of the famous 'Hellfire Club', of his propensity for
cruelty and the darker aspects of humanity that the 'Hellfire Club'
represented had a strong impact on her while she was working on the
Fire paintings causing them to develop into the more harrowing
and visceral Hellfire paintings which have a strong relevance
to existing concerns in Susan's work with human vulnerability and pain
and the recognition that references to sexual imagery and blood in paint
seem be able to express this vulnerability. Both the Fire and the Water aspects of this exhibition came together in Susan's exploitation of the liquid nature of paint. The work acknowledged the fluids of water and blood and the crossover from paint to blood, paint to water and blood to water. The fluidity of paint was made use of by throwing, flicking, dripping or squirting it (by using a glass medicine dropper) and then once it had fallen using bleeding, blotting and water tension. Apart from areas of wash, all the forms were made by falling paint, and individual brush marks were not used. |
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| Susan began the Water paintings by responding to Hokusai's famous woodcut The great wave (1830-33) and as the work developed she forced the capabilities of the droppers so that their projectiles spanned as big an area as possible, culminating in the large-scale Water polyptych. |  |
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| Collaboration: | |||||||||||||||||
| Through
Hell and High Water, a play by Katie
Kingshill exploiting the legends and history of Hall Place, performed
by Cyclops Productions, a theatre company made up of disabled and non-disabled
professional actors, directed by Kevin Robinson. |
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| Piano
recital by Christopher Willis who played his composition Fire
and Water and Colours of Lentua
by Nils Schweckendiek, both written for Fire and Water,
with works from earlier collaborations. The music was interspersed
with readings of poetry written in response to the paintings by members
of local poetry groups led by Ted Walter. A recording of the music
by Christopher Willis and Nils Schweckendiek played in the gallery throughout
the exhibition. Consequences, a collection of poetry written for Fire and Water by Jane Kingshill with music and improvisation for cello and voice by Danny Kingshill. Meditation amongst the paintings led by Karen Best with improvisation for cello and voice by Danny Kingshill. A one-day painting workshop (right) took place in the gallery for students from Erith School led by Susan Haire. |
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| Collaboration with sound clips | |||||||||||||||||