Emerging from the deep and enduring journey through land and country in my artmaking, Inside Water is an expression of a new passage which attempts to capture the nuances and meaning of water.
From chance meanderings in the Illawarra landscape exploring waterfalls and creeks and experiencing the life-force and impact of water on me as a person and as an artist, water became the central element for me to explore in these works.
With a small flowing creek outside my workshop, the sound and movement after rain led me to explore the connection of being part of something much greater but right on my doorstep – a green corridor connecting the escarpment to the sea. I have found that over time, the energy and positive atmosphere of flowing water has become a reference point for me for healing and positivity and represents a grounding that comes with preserving green spaces in urban environments.
As I grappled with the challenges of how to represent the mass and substance of water and the opposing solid but fluid qualities, I moved from the predominantly horizontal expression of landscape to the vertical form and line as the window for these works. Working across the mediums of traditional lithography, mokulito, woodcut and watercolour enabled me to explore the different qualities of water – movement, light, strength, fluidity, substance, flow. The visual language this created became more dramatic with strength and character taking the forefront with painterly and more intuitive marks following the fall and flow of water. Many times I felt the incidental flow of marks beyond my control, echoing the real life movement of water.
– Danielle Creenanune, March 2022
