12 – 29 April 2018
about the exhibition
Judith White’s luminous and richly textured abstract paintings reflect the interplay between form and space in both built and natural environments. In recent years, water within an urban setting continues to be a central theme, with its passage and containment modified by walls and buildings. Recent travels through ancient towns and cities in Southern France have provided Judith with the opportunity to observe how water has been controlled by man to serve particular purposes – “Causeways and moats reflect and suggest ancient urban landscapes outside the edge of the canvas space while the passage of a canal through an ancient town can appear to map the density of old buildings”. Judith observed that, in contrast, the construction of a stormwater creek at the end of her suburban street has an entirely different role with its purpose being to direct the flow of water away from the built environment. This new series reflects how water, though part of the natural world, continues to be affected by human history and it is this connection that inspires Judith. Using her unique layering process of pigment and collage, Judith allows abstract shapes and spaces to emerge upon the canvas surface – moats, causeways, canals and stormwater creeks are reflected in these shapes with “a strong imaginative reference to the transient energy, texture and movement of the urban landscape”.
Judith was born in Sydney and has been exhibiting for more than thirty years in Australia and overseas. She trained at the National Art School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree through Sydney University. Judith has been awarded many prizes during her career including the Mosman Art Prize twice, the Margaret Fesq Memorial Art Prize twice, the Manly Art Prize, the Maitland Art Prize and, in 2004, the Fleurieu Peninsula McLaren Vale Prize. She has completed numerous commissions including a major public work for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She has collaborated with musician Rachel Scott in several performance projects, culminating in ‘The Painted Bach’ performance at the City of Perth Winter Arts Festival 2016.
