By Mikayla van Loon
Getting in flow was an important part of putting together the new exhibition at Yering Station for artist Kerrie Warren, so it seemed only fitting for her biggest artwork to date to be called by that name.
The 20 metre painting installation, split into two 10 metre lengths and within that, smaller pieces again, was the culmination of time and space during the pandemic.
Originally working on one part of the painting for six to seven months to exhibit, Kerrie said when another lockdown cancelled the exhibition, she was able to go back into her studio with a different view.
“I sat in the studio with the painting, and it was then that I could see that one end of the painting could link up to the other end of the painting,” she said.
“I got really excited about putting it back on the floor and the second part actually joined one end to the other to create a cyclorama…it gave me the opportunity to create a looping painting.”
Often working to a large scale, Kerrie said that’s where she feels most comfortable, being able to truly immerse herself in the artwork.
“I love being able to walk through a painting and walk through a landscape so I feel more natural to be working on a large scale, small scales I find a little bit more challenging because I like to be inside the painting,” she said.
Drawing on all the landscapes that surround her, Kerrie doesn’t necessarily paint what she sees but what she feels.
“As a child, we travelled a lot and we would often be in cars, driving through landscapes.
“I feel at peace in nature and in a big panoramic landscape. I love the sensation of it. When I walk into the studio, it follows me without me being conscious of it.”
Painting in a style of abstract expressionism, using an action painting technique, Kerrie said often she’s not sure what she will paint until she’s thrown the first lot of paint.
“When I throw the paint organically, I can then see in the dots, my eyes join the dots and I see something and that’s what I follow.
“That’s what takes me to where I am in the landscape. So it’s a bit like looking at the stars and your eyes will make outlines and that’s how I begin a painting.”
For Kerrie starting with a blank canvas and the endless possibilities is the most exciting step in completing an artwork.
Using the leftover paint from the previous artwork, Kerrie said, always allows her to just see what happens and move in flow with the paint, mixing colours as she goes.
“Because I don’t have a predetermined idea, it’s just like dancing with paint. So I don’t have a creative block, because I never work with having to have the idea first.
“It actually doesn’t even matter what colour I’m using because when you’re dancing with paint, none of that matters.
“Starting with the leftover paint from the painting prior, I like doing that because one painting will hold hands with the last painting even if it’s underneath and you barely see it, this evolving series continues.”
Losing herself often in an artwork, it becomes a meditative process, one where the movement of paint forms the important structure of the artwork without Kerrie really noticing.
When nearing completion of an artwork, Kerrie said she always likes to include “commas and full stops” throughout, moments to allow people to pause just like they would in nature.
“There are some gold leaf gold nuggets in the river and in daylight the gold sparkles. There are fish. There are a couple of butterflies.
“When we go bushwalking, we straightaway see the obvious things like the trees and hills and it’s not until we actually stop and give it a couple of minutes we think oh, there’s something in that tree or there’s a fish swimming in the river.”
While ‘In Flow’ doesn’t depict any particular landscape, Kerrie said often in her works people can see a location or remember a moment just by looking.
“It is completely abstract, so the lines and the dots will form a reference point in someone else’s mind, they might see something completely different to what I’ve seen as I’ve painted them.”
Although dividing the painting into smaller sections to sell was saddening, Kerrie said she wanted it to represent the subdivision of land that is common practice today.
And despite it being separated, because its original form was as one painting, it can always return to that state one day.
‘In Flow’ is on display at the Yering Station Art Gallery from 5 April until 14 May, with an opening on Saturday 22 April.
