SO MUCH TO TELL YOU is Jill Bradshaw’s second solo exhibition with Art Galleries Schubert.  Bradshaw’s approach to her art practice is much like that of the ‘cantadoras’ of storytellers of old.  She too collects and preserves traditions which are in danger of being lost to the world.  Fairytales, legends, rhymes and memorabilia provide vital connections between daily human experience and rich resonances from the distant past.

A Joyful Search for Identity

In sifting through the keepsakes and discards of other times and lives, Jill Bradshaw is endeavouring to make sense of her own.  Describing her work as “diaristic” and “essentially a playful and joyful search for identity”, she has untangled threads and transformed the found bits and pieces into a series of enchanting paintings and works on paper.

Innocence and Knowing

The imagery is presented in the way a child might attempt to portray his or her view of the world: full-frontal figures; the lines and shapes sometimes tentatively fragile, at other times spontaneously confident; the visual dialogue augmented with random scribbles and text.  But beneath this veneer of innocence lies a considerable sophistication of intention and technique.

Traditional Notions in Flux

A sense of the unpredictable has been masterfully infused into Bradshaw’s art.  Traditional notions of perspective are in flux.  Intriguing juxtapositions of personal and archetypal symbology crisscross a patchwork of light and dark zones.  This deliberate dismantling of ordinary reality is however, solidly grounded in a deep earthy palette and strong composition.

Another World

BETWEEN THE LINES is a pivotal work in the exhibition.  With features reminiscent of a Russian doll, a figure floats from the field of an everyday exterior world into a darkened interior space that pulsates with its own rich colours and textures.  In her hand the maiden grips a small leafy wand.  Curiously, it seems to belong to the flowering motifs which pattern the upper portion of this secret place.

 A Light on the Path

SO MUCH TO TELL YOU is an exhibition aptly titled.  It resounds with fond childhood memories and other ways of seeing.  In undertaking the journey back into our mythic landscapes we are rewarded with a light into the future.

In the past few years, Jill Bradshaw has been the recipient of many awards and prizes which include the Bently Art Prize, the Coraki Art Prize, First Prize for Drawing at the Cane Harvest Festival, Maclean and the Champion Art Award at the Coffs Harbour City Art Prize.

“From the white gallery walls, huge almond-shaped eyes contemplate the viewer.

Within their dark orbs, both innocence and knowing seem to reside.

Captivated, we are drawn into the stories they have to tell.”

Jacqueline Houghton

Consultants and Dealers in Fine Art

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