Helga Groves Looking at Time

14 October –
11 November 2017

Looking at Time, is the second phase, of a new body of work for which Groves’ reflects on her continued investigation of geophysical processes and geological time, with specific reference to her research trip to New York in 2015. Her source material being geological specimens from the American Museum of Natural History and the physical geology of New York, in the form of its highly exposed ancient bedrock, distinct to Central Park.

A hall of minerals is created as a setting in this grouping of collage, painting and three dimensional forms. Meteorite slices are evoked through the layering of laser cut Perspex which emanates an intensity of colour indicating states from warm to cool. The surface topography of a meteorite is traced with ink and copper pigment in her sculptural work which further alludes to matter in transition.

In her unique approach to observing NYC, a type of mimicry is employed to capture reflections of a building onto a building as transient abstract patterns or possible rock surfaces. Groves’ painting and collages hold abstract shapes within the slippage of a grid to recall Manhattan Schist, the bedrock and foundations of New York City. Within these works, homage is also paid to American artists Agnes Martin and Ellsworth Kelly, who have influenced Groves practice and her consistent engagement with abstraction.

Here reimagined are fragments of a geological timeline from above, beyond and below the surface of the earth, alongside a glimpse into the geological beginnings of NYC.

Helga Groves has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and abroad, including regular individual exhibitions with Sutton Gallery since 1999. Selected exhibitions include; Limitless Horizons: Vertical Perspective, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2017; Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria and Artist Profile: Australasian Painters 2007 – 2017, Orange Regional Gallery, NSW, 2017; Tidal: City of Devonport National Art Award, Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania, 2016; Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, 2015; Ten Years of Contemporary Art: The James C. Sourris AM Collection, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2011; Divining Water, Gitte Weise Gallery, Berlin, 2008; Points of Departure, Tobey Fine Arts, New York, USA, 2007; P.O.W. (Personal Other World), Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra 2006; Good Vibrations: The Legacy of Op Art in Australia, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2002; Phenomena: New Painting in Australia #1, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2001; and Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1999. Groves has been the recipient of numerous grants, prizes and residencies, including The ROI Prize, Melbourne in 2015; the Australia Council for the Arts Project Grant, 2016, and Studio Residency in Helsinki, Finland in 2010; Moira Dyring Studio, Cite International des Arts, Paris, 2002; Moet et Chandon Australian Art Fellowship, France, 1997; and Asialink residency in Hanoi, Vietnam, 1995.