Gallery reflections: A heavy tether- Rhiannon Inman - Simpson

Inman Simpsons work in this exhibition explores visceral encounters between body and place. The work looks at the differences in how we navigate, both physically and imaginatively, three distinct realms: The bodily experience of the environment, the pictorial space of a painting and the space of written language. She moves between colour, form and marks in the way she might move her body through a physical environment. She uses processes such as removing and layering paint and through this, colours begin to interrupt each other and forms emerge and dissolve. There is a play of weight and air in the paintings: these spaces are rooted to the ground but have air to breathe.

I particularly liked the piece ‘Looking directly at the sun again’ (oil on canvas, 2022) as you can see the textures of layered paint and wet brush vs dry brush application as well as gestural mark making and areas where the paint has been etched into, this all contributes to it being a highly physical piece of work and I believe the viscerality of the piece makes the viewing experience deeper and more emotional. I also like the complimentary colour palette in this painting (purples and yellows), compared to the other paintings in this exhibition, this painting looked more harmonious and to me, this was due to the choice of colours used.

For me, the titles of the works add a deeper understanding of the artists emotions and experience/ thoughts in an almost poetic way. Without the titles, the paintings are completely open to interpretation but the titles guide the viewer to see the colours and forms through the artists own eyes.

Gallery visit: Bobinska Brownlee New River

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