Skewbald

'I use my eye as an instrument of pleasure, not an instrument of recognition. I want to see things I believe to be beautiful or interesting . . . I think beauty is what I'm after . . .'. Lively, contemplative, surprising and with a memorable beauty, Rosalie Gascoigne's works represent materials and objects which she collects in her immediate surroundings. 'I often think the broken shard is better than the pure vase. I mean, not all broken, but often pieces are much more informed with life'. Born in Auckland, Gascoigne spent most of her adult life near Canberra and initially had difficulty getting used to the open, dry space of Australia after 'water-saturated' New Zealand. Classes in the Japanese art of ikebana gave her the impetus to transform the experience of emptiness through making art, and she had her first exhibition at the age of 57. Her reputation quickly grew and in 1982 she was the first woman artist to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale. In Skewbald - the word describes a horse with irregular patches of white and brown - Gascoigne sets discarded domestic enamelware on flimsy masonite pedestals to form a tableau, a composition in rust and white, which although using manufactured materials, somehow suggests the outdoors. 'I am not making pictures, I make feelings . . . I want to make art without telling a story; it must be allusive, lyrical'. (from The Guide, 2001)

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