Beth Kay looking to make her mark

Mount Gambier’s Little Blue Wren Gallery unveils a new exhibition from a Mount Gambier artist

Local artist Beth Kay has opened her bold and striking abstract exhibition ‘The Feminine Art of Mark Making’ at Little Blue Wren. The Feminine Art of Mark Making is a creative collision of fine art and firearms. The collection of artwork reimagines the traditional accuracy shooting target as vibrant geometry and uses rifles to create powerful marks through the canvas.

“This project initially began with the intent to spice up my target practice,” Beth said. “Black lines printed on copy paper from a .jpeg found on Google Images was too uninspiring; I wanted to shoot something more exciting.”

The work born from this endeavour is a collection that not only documents the progression of Beth’s skill as a markswoman and painter but has also become an archive of memories. Like an old photo, Beth’s paintings trigger in her a wave of remembering.

“Beth takes the traditional shooting target, abstracts it onto canvas and then shoots through the final piece of work with a rifle – the work is both bold and striking,” Little Blue Wren gallery owner, Gareth Williams said.

The exhibition ‘The Feminine Art of Mark Making’ seeks to challenge and disrupt. Not only is it a distortion of the shooting target, it is a statement.

“Ordinarily femininity is represented as soft, gentle, passive and pliable, but this collection of artwork reimagines the feminine as strong, bold and firm,” Beth said. “The collection is a radical reimagining of femininity and a bold comment on the strength it takes to make your mark in the world.”

The exhibition was launched on May 13 by of the Mount Gambier Chamber of Commerce president Candice Fennell. and will be open until June 23.