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‘This show is definitely my most intimate,’ says Miranda Skoczek of her latest exhibition, now on at NKN Gallery in Melbourne. Fragments and Sunbeams hints at self-reflective themes, but also pays homage to other great artists Miranda reveres.
Artist Martha Jane Pettway lends her name to the most geometric and the largest of Miranda’s canvases, Martha Jane Pettway Quilt. ‘For at least half of my life, I’ve been drawn to the wondrous world of textiles. Nothing rivals its rich tradition for practicality, its symbolism and its ability to hold and celebrate personal stories and histories,’ tells Miranda. ‘I am also most drawn to textiles, as typically they are produced by women, and their power lays not only in their providing of warmth and utilitarian function, but in their mirroring of social and cultural change.’
Howard Hodgkin, a hero of Miranda’s, is honoured through On the Side. Here, the artist explains, the title is reflective of the thick paint she has gathered at the canvas edge, and also touches upon recent personal experiences.
On the other hand, in Rug Flag Rug Miranda’s attention extends from the centre of the painting out to the frame, vacillating between picture and object. ‘I love the weight and solidity of this picture, it feels quite masculine for me,’ she says, noting that rugs are another fine example of the layered narratives textiles can impart.
Miranda’s friend, Kez Hughes, once wrote that she has an almost pious connection to her work. While she does engage with a deep internal spirituality when producing her work, this is always coupled with a deluge of external references, from images to textiles, cultural motifs and iconography. It is through these influences that Fragments and Sunbeams weaves an homage to artistic greats, while maintaining Miranda’s ongoing fascination with, and synthesis of, material culture.
Fragments and Sunbeams by Miranda Skoczek
Running until May 20th
NKN Gallery
208 Lennox Street, Richmond, Melbourne
Following this, Miranda Skoczek’s ‘Physical Thinking’ exhibition will run from May 25 to June 10 at Arthouse Gallery in Sydney.
