ETERNE Katie Daniels & Bettina Willner-Browne
Occasionally art has the power to be the same breath of fresh air as a good dose of nature. ETERNE, at Saint Cloche gallery in Paddington, promises just that.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Cairo Willner- Browne & Matthew Stanton
Moonstone 2 by Bettina Willner-Browne. Photo - Cairo Willner- Browne.
“I think of my paintings as love letters to experience and place, to the environment and the land. Mementoes and tokens of my appreciation and delight in nature,” shares Kate Daniels. Pictured - Reverie by Kate Daniels. Photo - Matthew Stanton.
“Colour is bound to trigger emotions, hopefully inspiring positive ones for the viewer,” says Bettina Willner Browne. Pictured - Moonstone 1, Turquoise and Moonstone 2 by Bettina Willner-Browne. Photo - Cairo Willner- Browne.
Inviting nostalgia from sleepy summer days dipping in the local creek and exploring Australia’s vast landscape, ETERNE brings together paintings from Katie Daniels and ceramics by Bettina Willner-Browne.
Katie and Bettina’s art seems like it was created for each other. Perhaps because of the connection to childhood memories, with both artists growing up in regional Australia. They both capture forms from nature in timeless, ethereal works of art; one in paint, the other in clay.
The colours of both practices are reflected in one another. Katie says this was a mostly intuitive process, only drawing back to certain pinks and blues because of the reference photos she was using. “A lot of the pieces were derived from the subject photos I was using,” she adds. “All from 90s camera film/film photography, and because they were of one area/subject, they have a similar colour palette.” These shades and tones evoke Katie’s early memories, as she attempted to capture these feelings, memories, and sites of transformative experience.
Magmatic (rear view) by Bettina Willner-Browne. Photo - Cairo Willner- Browne.
“Memory is a continuous reference I find myself bound by. From the everyday objects and experiences to more unprocessed subconscious thoughts. ”
“I encouraged Katie to paint a panoramic aspect of her dreamy landscapes as far as the eye could see, to present to the viewer a yet unseen depth of perspective of her other-worldly landscapes.” says Kitty Clark, Founder and Director of Saint Cloche. Pictured - Down by the Tall Trees by Kate Daniels. Photo - Matthew Stanton.
Bettina also works intuitively with her ephemeral ceramic artworks, each one taking its own life as it grows from raw clay. Within her, sculptures are references to life; such as the stone, fossils and shells collected across Australia by her aunt, or the colours in the Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli, Moonstone, Garnet, Peridot she began wearing after working on the island of Santorini in a jewellery store.
“I love a good curve of a river, or a disappearing path into trees, something with a sense of mystery and adventure to it. I feel like it pulls the eye/the viewer into the painting.”
The biomorphic figures attempt to bridge the connection between material, form, nature, architecture and memory. After spending time in Hungary on an artist residency, Bettina returned to Australia and undertook a trip to the Great Barrier Reef; snorkelling, sailing and exploring the indigenous walking trails, the artist was inspired to capture both these memories and scenes in nature subconsciously.
This Life with You by Kate Daniels. Photo - Matthew Stanton.
Peridot by Bettina Willner-Browne. Photo - Cairo Willner- Browne.
“On the beach lay coral, shells and silica gathered in a carpet of bone-like forms,” the ceramic artist shares. “Beyond lay the water, I experienced the majesty and the fragility of the reef. An entire cycle lay before my eyes, one glinting beneath the water the other fossilised and washed-up.”
Saint Cloche asked both artists if they could describe their works in sounds, how would they do so? “I think wind through eucalyptus leaves/trees would be the sound, maybe rushing water as well,” Katie poetically muses. “Black cockatoos flying overhead always sound magical to me,” Bettina thoughtfully adds. “Quiet moments in nature, delicate sounds of birds, water, breeze through the trees.”
As the gallery so perfectly writes, by the artists capturing the “flickering memories of time spent in nature with loved ones, ETERNE is offered by both artists as an honouring and tribute to nature and is something to be cherished forever.”
VISIT
ETERNE 30TH SEPTEMBER - 11TH OCTOBER SAINT CLOCHE 37 MACDONALD, PADDINGTON, SYDNEY