Sarah Tomasetti Rivus (detail) 2022 pigment and wax on fresco plaster on muslin dimensions variable current installation 4 x 1.5 m
Sarah Tomasetti’s evocative work Rivus is now showing at Chapman & Bailey Gallery as part of the group exhibition Birrarung: On the River
During lockdown I began to walk along the river daily, and was overjoyed to meet the local swimming group, and take my first cold plunge into the river last August. As my relationship to the country of Birrarung deepened through walking and swimming, I began to see the echoes of stone, mud and water in the confluence of the lime putty, marble dust and pigment I use in the studio. Rivus is a response to the way stone and sky become one in the reflections of the river, and likewise the way community is held within the life of her endless movement, particularly at the thresholds of dawn and dusk.
– Sarah Tomasetti, 2022
Birrarung: On the River – Group Exhibition
A tribute to living and working with the life source of Birrarung the Yarra River. Drawing on a mix of professional artists and the wider community of Birrarung devotees in response to living and working on the river.
Featuring Melody Spangaro, Heather Hesterman, Sarah Tomasetti, Mark Chapman, Nicola Reavley, Heidi Peters, Michelle Yuan Fitz-Gerald, Jade Barnaby, Charlotte Ghaie, Talitha Kennedy, Michaela Meadow, Michaela Hart, Joanna Buckley
Now showing until 28 April 2022
Chapman & Bailey Gallery
350 Johnston St
Abbotsford Melbourne
03 9415 8666
gallery@chapmanbailey.com.au
Sarah Tomasetti Rivus 2022 pigment and wax on fresco plaster on muslin dimensions variable current installation 4 x 1.5 m
These banners are made using the materials and techniques of ancient fresco painting, a means of surfacing and decorating walls with a breathable layer of plaster that absorbs pigments to become weatherproof. These materials work on all kinds of masonry including stone, brick, hebel and concrete block. In the case of Rivus, the insertion of muslin allows the plaster ‘skin’ to be detached from the working wall and suspended, and these can also be mounted on interior walls, re-embedding the artwork into the substrate of the building.
– Sarah Tomasetti, 2022