Adrienne Ranson
WORK
CURRENT PROJECTS
CLOUD, ROCK, MOUNTAIN
In the course of completing a Doctor of Fine Arts (graduating 2023) I was profoundly affected by the presentation of qi (the energy or spirit of rocks, mountains and clouds) as an intergral creative force and manifestation of interdependent flows, not only throughout a landscape, but as a vitalising energy within and without all animate and inanimate forms.
I spent some time copying ancient masters brushstrokes, in particular the curious looping style in paintings by Mei Ching (1624-1697) and his strange, unearthly rock and mountain imagery. The resulting images were a series of works in acrylic on canvas that expressed my understanding of Buddhist thinking related to the inter-relational energy of brush-stroke and colour combination with my understanding of the non-dual energies in landscapes of rocks, mountains and clouds.
These are acrylic paintings on canvas.
WEATHER-SCAPES
In recovery from my intense period of art-study during doctoral research I was left with an abundance of experimental works on paper. I decided to allow myself to play through re-purposing works on paper creating collaged compositions. I believe I continued a 'decreative' process gained from researching and training in shanshui and as conceived through the lens of Buddhist philosophical conceptions on 'interdependence'. This 'decreative' process is a form of copy and repetition that allows the artist to playfully enjoy using and transforming pre-existing art techniques and imagery into new forms.
These are collaged images of ink on rice paper on a background of acrylic paint of Fabriano 300gms cold-pressed paper.
DOCTORATE EXHIBITION
IN PRAISE OF THE NON-DUAL IN PAINTING
My focus for doctoral research was developing a contemporary painting practice that manifested Buddhist conceptions of the non-dual in both process and image. To do this I trained in shanshui (mountains-water) painting, a genre of traditional Chinese art and aesthetics in which one begins by learning from ancient masters styles and techniques through copying their brush-marking and imagery. François Jullien’s theorising of the whole-in-correlation and Byung-Chul Han’s exposition on the decreative practices of copy and repetition in Chinese landscape painting were guiding concepts in contemporising my training in traditional Chinese art aesthetics. Hans Rudolf-Kantor's understanding of interdependence and correlative opposition from Mahayana Buddhist treatises augmented my study of the thinking of Jullien and Han. By understanding approaches to the inseparable nature of the dual with the nondual, I found that art-making and image can allow for an experience of the dissolution of subject-object and self-other distinctions in a painting practice.
These are all ink on either single or triple xuan (rice paper) mounted on Fabriano 300gms cold-pressed paper
PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT
Sally and Vaviola
In my current Kodak Brownie camera excursions I have been expressing my observations of cross-cultural relationships and geopolitical tensions with a focus on my home territory, the Asia-Pacific region. These photos, a series simply titled 'Sally and Vaviola' and are digital prints on Ilford Gold Fibre Gloss, 50cm x 50cm.
I received these dolls from my parents in the late 1970’s– Sally for Christmas and Vaviola after living in Fiji for a short time. They represent two different cultures, placed in a grassy paddock, standing or lying. The diffuse Chinese script in the background floats, seemingly untethered, ghostly. Translated the Chinese script is the enquiry; How are you?
For me these images are pregnant with my own personal, spiritual, social and political musings.
