The walls of the exhibition are an absolute and absent white, like a space between conversations longing to be filled. Its silence urges forward the euphony of colour that characterizes the paintings above, the paintings of artist Julia de Greff.
For many beholders, it may be that tumultuous array of vivid colour that stands out first, as though someone decided to encase rainbows in a beacon to throw light over the shadows of the world. The concatenation of deep reds, ocean blues and bright yellows suggest joy in their creation, a happy harmony of various shades and tones. I attempted to analyse them further. Could the green of the bird connote envy? Might the faint shadow over the woman on the right evoke some foreboding? However when I suggested symbolism, the artist laughed like her colours. "Many people do find different interpretations for them," she said. "They ask 'why is it blurry there' or 'why have you done that'. Recently quite a lot of my faces or figures have other creatures with them − cats, owls or birds − and some people do attach meanings to them. But the way I paint is quite instinctive. I don't really think about it... it's largely based on how I feel. Sometimes I'm painting away and then suddenly I realise what I'm painting."
Many writers have described people as forever wearing masks, hiding many things behind them. Julia de Greff on the other hand, speaks and paints as though she has never needed one.
"I suppose I would describe them (the artwork) as they can be quite rough, sometimes they're playful , sometimes they're warm... sometimes a bit strange. Often they may seem quite naïve."
Though watercolour was her first art medium, after her brother gave her a painting set as a child, her work now primarily uses oil paints and charcoal, and sometimes cloth instead of paintbrushes. The darkness of the charcoal provides a pleasing contrast to the rich brightness of the oil paints, as well as adding to the abstractness of the different shapes. But portraits are not the sole focus in her artwork. Others amongst them include a ghostly blue-white whale suspended alongside a flock of birds, a reddish pony against a jigsaw of colours, and of course the multitude of teapots and teacups that pay homage to her inherent love of tea.
"I can't remember when I start planning a painting, not quite like a painting speaks to me, but only that I suddenly choose a colour and can't stop. I think one of the reasons I like it so much is that it really doesn't matter what you do... I guess it's just something that has flowed for me."
by Yii-Jen Deng
Newstead Wood School
