May 26 – July 24, 2022
‘Splendid Isolation’ by Eva McCauley
Opening Reception: Saturday May 28, 2022 from 2-4PM | Main gallery at the Elora Centre for the Arts ‘Splendid Isolation’ is a series of paintings exploring themes of isolation, uncertainty, and transience during the strange and surreal time of the global pandemic but also, simultaneously, of enhanced connections, and deepening of the creative spirit.
This has been a time of renewal as we explore new ways to live. Many of us are re-examining our existence and what is most important to us, as we emerge from the pandemic, finding new meaning in our transformed lives as we plot a course in still uncharted waters.
In his novel, “Kafka on the Shore”, Haruki Murakami wrote: “Once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in.” The paintings in this exhibition are Eva McCauley’s response to the pandemic of 2020/21, during which there has been an ongoing struggle to make sense of our shifting world. These paintings embrace uncertainty and a feeling of fragmentation, while also unveiling a beauty arising from creating in solitude, resulting in transitional realizations and insights, during a time of conflicting political tensions, and personal and social constraints. This is reflected in the paintings through strangely lit environments of strongly contrasting light and colour, inhabited by solitary figures. We are living through a life-transforming time with an unseen enemy that is grim and frightening, yet strangely abstract. Most of the pieces are night scenes, both urban and rural, and inhabited by solitary figures who are dissolving, shifting and not very tangible. Even the ground is shifting beneath their feet. They inhabit places that the artist has been in the past. There is a loose narrative being created in the paintings, unresolved and open ended. The narrative is deliberately unresolved, to convey the feeling of uncertainty and unpredictability, with everything in flux.Eva uses a combination of printmaking and painting techniques when executing her paintings. When she creates monotypes she uses a reductive approach, pulling away dark ink with her fingers to create light and reveal form. Eva has been using a similar process in her paintings, creating imagery that emerges mysteriously in a haptic way. This generates a powerful feeling of light, created by strong tonal and colour contrasts: acrid greens and yellows, purples and saturated reds.
The overriding sense of insecurity and apprehension is tangible, and Eva expresses that in her work. Yet there is also a sense that the pandemic presents an unprecedented opportunity for deepening creativity and human connections. Beauty is being spun from bleakness during this time of transition. Indeed, splendid isolation.Join Eva for a FREE ARTIST TALK this summer in the gallery! For more details please click here. View Eva’s work in our VIRTUAL GALLERY! Click here to view. Take a VIDEO TOUR of the exhibition! Click here to view. View an EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Click here to view. (printed copies are available in our Artisan Shop)
About the Artist: