Cassette by Bec Smith
Melbourne-based artist Bec Smith’s latest exhibition Cassette at Saint Cloche gallery draws on her experiences and reflections during the recent state lockdown.
Words: Hande Renshaw | Photography: Martina Gemmola
Analogue Signals I / Continuous Wave, Diptych in acrylic and mixed media on board by Bec Smith. Photo - Martina Gemmola.
“I feel excited to be more hands-on from now on,” says Bec Smith of the new paint techniques she learnt during lockdown. Photo - Martina Gemmola.
Analogue Signals II / Play, assemblage wall plaque, acrylic and mixed media on board by Bec Smith. Photo - Martina Gemmola.
The recent Victoria lockdown was challenging for so many, causing the entire state to pause and reflect. As a creative, the lockdown presented its own challenges—access to art supplies suddenly didn’t come easy, forcing a shift in working and funnelling creativity. For Melbourne-based Bec Smith, the lockdown meant reevaluating her work as an artist and seeing it in a brand new light, which was both a confronting and refreshing experience. “Practically speaking, the closure of art suppliers and workshops meant that I also had to be incredibly resourceful and learn new things,” she says.
Bec’s latest exhibition Cassette, which will be showing at Saint Cloche gallery from the 11th to the 22nd of November, is a collection of work she completed during lockdown. This new body of work is a pivot from her usual technique and a brand new creative direction for the artist—a positive outcome from a testing moment in time.
“For a long time I found it (lockdown) extremely confronting, but after a while it gave me permission to change the way I paint–adding much more texture, using different applications for layers such as scumbling and mark-making, I usually use all flat brushed and filberts but I was using round brushes, and light on dark ground as well as dark over light ground, and leaving halos around underpainting.” says Bec, “This gave me a deep appreciation for the entire process, and I feel excited to be more hands-on from now on.”
Eternal Return II / Lead Track, acrylic and mixed media on board by Bec Smith. Photo - Martina Gemmola.
“Cassette is a French word for a ‘small case’, a vessel containing belongings that tell stories about the person who owns them, much like analogue signals contained within the continuous thread of one’s life. ”
“I do think that artists and creative people tend to have or be given greater opportunities to practice observing experiences and reflecting upon them,” shares Bec Smith. Photo - Martina Gemmola.
Child, Side B, acrylic and mixed media on board and (right) Child, Side A, acrylic and mixed media on board by Bec Smith. Photo - Martina Gemmola.
VISIT
CASSETTE 11TH OCTOBER - 22ND NOVEMBER SAINT CLOCHE 37 MACDONALD, PADDINGTON, SYDNEY