Visit the Arcadia exhibition at independent Brighton art gallery, Kellie Miller Arts, 19th September – 5th October 2020.
“With imagery at once, extraordinary, fanciful and sublime, he often conjured an ethereal universe of transcendent beauty — an idyllic and shimmering realm from which ugliness, poverty and pessimism were forever banned.”
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825 – 1905)
Kate Richardson is a rare artist who effortlessly flows between artistic genres. One can credit her success to her talent, work ethic and her ability to produce her artworks prolifically. Raising at 5 am, she can be found painting in her pyjamas. At this time of day, there is a combination of a rested mind and body, but perhaps still with a toe in the ‘twilight zone’ of sleep/wakefulness. It is in the stillness of the morning that she is most creative.
For Kate, painting is a mediation. Like breathing, she needs to paint to stay in equilibrium – to live and to give meaning, to tone down the noise in this socially complex time.
She aims to be aware of her ego; her purpose is to engage with the ‘flow state’ where she is in the zone, and the ego is rendered redundant. This is when she is wholly focussed, and time stands still. In this trance world, she creates works that she often doesn’t recognise and questions whether she painted them.
Kate says: “When my ego (whose sole purpose is survival of the sense of self) does inevitably return, the focus to paint is purely to attain immortality, hoping that the essence of me will still be discussed, admired, scrutinised through my work, long after I’m dead.”
Arcadia is a poetic-shaped space associated with bountiful natural splendour and harmony. With this in mind, the works selected for this exhibition are from three different styles of her works. Kate’s main priority for her abstract works is to turn the mind off and not to analyse. If she allows insecurities to taint this process, then the magic is lost.
In her landscape pieces, inspired by land and sea, she uses her symbolic wind-bent tree/s. There is always one that points in the direction of where she lives. These forlorn looking trees signify dignity, strength and home, all depicted in a promised-land setting.
Kate’s third style of work is a combination of abstract works and angels. These angelic forces occasionally make an appearance in her works. To include them adds an element of optimism, the unknown and the spirit realms to the collection.
Working with the synergy between Kate’s genres, this is the first solo showcase at the gallery. This body of work has been produced during COVID-19 lockdown and perfectly sums up the exhibition title ‘Arcadia’ – an unspoiled, harmonious wilderness, an imaginary idyllic paradise.
To find out more and book your private view appointment email: gallery@kelliemillerarts.com.
Artwork shown: Kate Richardson, Turing
