CreatorMary DonnellyTitleLemon and 3 pearsDate2017MediumMixed media on canvas on boardDimensionsH. 770mm x W. 1025mm x D. 40mmArtist StatementIn my world the term still life becomes a landscape; a landscape on a table. There is a narrative present on the table.
I invite the viewer to explore the space, engage with the space and the objects on the table. My artistic language is the exploration of time and how the representation of time can be used to explore an aspect of painting; time is experienced rather than it is measured.Accession Number116.2018Credit LineDonated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Mary DonnellyAccess AdviceFor research purposes only. No reproduction without permission of Yarrila Arts and Museum.
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Significance Statement
The work Lemon and 3 Pears was a finalist in the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery's signature program, Still: National Still Life Award. In 2017, this award was expanded from having a focus solely on still life painting to include artworks in all mediums. This painting however, continues the gallery’s efforts in collecting the highest quality still life paintings for its collection. The still life genre is the specialist focus of the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery’s collection, with still life artworks identified as the first priority in the gallery’s collection policy, Section 2.4.2 (1): “Works in this section reflect the still life genre, as per artworks acquired through the National Still Life Award (Still) as well as through donation, purchase, transfer and bequest.”
Mary Donnelly is an Australian artist who works largely in the still life genre: she describes her paintings and drawings as “landscapes on a table”. Her work is quiet and often spacious, with a wilful naivety and sense of whimsy. She usually works within a restricted palette of colour but this particular painting comes from a series she produced following a trip to Vietnam and began to introduce more intense hues of pink and orange into her work. Its restraint, careful composition, subtle use of mixed media and distorted perspective make it a strong example of her work. As a more abstracted still life, it meets a gap in the gallery’s painting collection, which has tended to focus on strongly realist interpretations.
[Written by Jo Besley, 4 March 2019]
Description
Still-life painting, mixed media on canvas on board.
