Pick of the Week: 'Boa Escalator' by Kirsty Black

New to our Whangamata gallery is a standout statement painting 'Boa Escalator' by Kirsty Black, taking this week's spot in 'Pick of the Week'!
 

 

Kirsty's latest work is a cocktail of vibrant, Summery colours: cyan blues, minty greens, with accents of sharp orange and magenta. While the pastel brights lure us in, irresistible in their multitude, smatterings of neutral creams and crisp white ensure that the palette is not too overwhelming and ties together in a balanced way. Kirsty's affinity to colour as an emotional trigger is here expressed as an unbounded joy: a playful lightness that slithers through the composition. 
 

Detail
 

'Boa Escalator' possesses a beautiful sense of dynamism, emulating the sensuous, stealthy movement of a boa constrictor for which the painting is named. Short ladder-like strokes suggest the angular forms of an escalator, but there is a mysterious force behind these: the ladders twist into arcs and spread out like a many-headed beast, resisting being caged by the edges of the canvas.
 

Detail
 

The liberating large format enables Kirsty to unleash energetic strokes and gestures onto the canvas, while still having breathing room. You can always sense a degree of abandon in her works, where a conscious decision is made mid-way to let the existing marks guide her hand, driving a more organic process of painting. Concerned with the idea of painting as a channel through which thought can be communicated, the unconscious and intuitive influences the final work as much as the artist's more rigorous decision-making processes. 

Whether seen up close or from a distance, Kirsty's command of gesture and colour continues to captivate the viewer, keeping our eyes dancing from one stroke to the next, entranced by the kaleidescopic maze of the Boa Escalator. See it at our Whangamata gallery now! 

Interested in enquiring about Kirsty Black's work? Contact us here! 

 

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