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| Michelle Genders, Possibilities, 2012, ink on archival paper, |
Possibilities
Michelle Genders
Firstdraft Gallery: 4 - 20 October 2012
This series of drawings by Michelle Genders were developed by experimenting with principals employed in Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka studies of underlying mechanisms of visual perception in the brain. Genders' drawing process explores intersections between science and spirituality, with respect to the polarity that appears to categorise our experience – that which is inside and that which is outside of us. In the area of psychology, more is known about the human brain than ever before. In the areas of cosmology and astrophysics, knowledge about the universe has increased rapidly. Advanced technology used in research has facilitated discoveries that have altered the way we conceive of ourselves and the universe. The embodied experience feels separate from the rest of the universe. But, spiritual traditions such as yoga, meditation, mysticism and beliefs of indigenous culture assume that the inside and outside lie on the same continuum.
At face value, scientific discoveries appear to be consistent with spiritual traditions. There are similarities between the methods used, for example repetitive observation and rigorous discipline. However, the fundamental assumptions of science and spirituality are different. ‘Possibilities’ is a word that reflects these contradictory assumptions. It means both something that might exist and something that is fact. It puts forwards the promise that anything is possible, but holds expectation that things should be proven.
Michelle Genders was part of Shuffle Shuffle - August 2012 artists-in-residence at Gunyah. She is a Sydney based artist, who has an experimental practice that includes drawing, sculpture, jewellery and installation; working with a process that is labour intensive but where simple solutions are chosen. Michelle completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) at Sydney College of the Arts in 2009.
Firstdraft Gallery: 116 - 118 Chalmers St, Surry Hills, Sydney NSW.
Open: Wed - Sun 12 to 6pm.
Find out more about Michelle's practice www.michellegenders.blogspot.com.au
