Jeff Burgess

Artist's statement: Inquisitive as water ...

Exhibition: Friday 11 May to Tuesday 12 June 2007

“…as inquisitive as water and as found as blood…”  

The works in this exhibition are without an easy verbal equivalent or defining explanation.  They are selected from a large body of work which uses the 'horse' as an animating creative idea.  The images and objects were devised at the intersection of 'studio thoughts' from my home studio, in that time of day following the obligatory day job.

Some of the works have no title but come with a descriptive list.  This can be read as an alchemical recipe of the earthly substances and poetic subjects to which I regularly return.  Other works do have an open title, acting as a suggestive pointing or word-key to increase the ambiguity and inferences for the viewer.

The works on paper and the sculptures may appear as bodies of work so disparate that they come from different hands.  I do not see this as problematic.  Over the years I have regularly moved between sculptural and painterly mediums, and I continue to work from a rich and broad base.  Each medium has its own language.  Different thoughts are spoken or heard as echoes and answers when working with paint or sculptural collage.  The 'horse' has acted as my continual poetic link throughout, and has recently further developed as cast and painted bronze sculptures.  This is a new development in my work and especially undertaken for this exhibition at Bett Gallery Hobart, Tasmania.

Many thanks to Curtis Hore. for without his extensive casting expertise, long hours of work and friendship, this creative leap and the exhibited cast bronze works would not have been possible.

Jeff Burgess
May 2007

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