EXPLOSIVE colours and patterns are filling the Art Gallery of Ballarat\u2019s Backspace.<\/p>\n
The exhibition of 12 paintings by visual artist Ebony Gulliver has been developed to incite the mind-body connection, getting viewers\u2019 bodies to think, and their minds to feel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fascinated by consciousness, and how we arrived at this amazing gift that we have,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, we\u2019ve divided the mind and the body, looking at the brain as an analytical thinking machine, and the body as something separate with its senses. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe body, the mind, emotions, and senses are tangled up together in how we see the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy work encourages people to let go of the distractions of everyday life, to be present in the moment as they experience it, and hopefully something happens in their bodies, in their brains; something visual, something feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gulliver said she always explores embodiment within her practice, not limiting herself to using traditional paper or canvas, which have been framed or stretched.<\/p>\n
Her process involves lots of taping and layering, and if a layer doesn\u2019t work, she paints over it and starts again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of paintings hidden within these paintings in Backspace and in terms of how they\u2019ve been mounted to the wall, they\u2019re quite sculptural,\u201d Gulliver said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe back of the work has also been painted, designed to give the work itself an aura, so the light bounces behind them and reflects the painting on the back onto the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of my work, even my more traditional paintings, I display as an installation, so it\u2019s meant to be an encompassing environment that people experience, as opposed to individual works that they look at.\u201d<\/p>\n