The Imagined Attractions Of Elsewhere by Katie Eraser

In Michael Reid’s new gallery in the surf town of Newport, Melbourne artist Katie Eraser brings colourful emotion to the forever sunny mood of the beaches. 

Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Parker Blain

In her debut exhibition at Michael Reid Northern Beaches, The Imagined Attractions Of Elsewhere (19-28 November), Katie Eraser invites vivid colours and gestural mark-making to her canvases. Thick with acrylic and oil stick paints, the artworks are imbued with artist’s touch and leave lasting reminders of emotion. The works encourage us to think beyond our own mind space, connecting with others even if we can’t be physically with them. 

This messy texture and dense application permeate the works with sensitivity. As such, the exhibition is like bursts of love and positivity — more important sentiments than ever. Titles like So Much To Look Back On, So Much Forward To and You’re Radiating Power And It’s Infectious (both 2020) confirm Katie’s ideology. 

“I was really exploring emotion and connection in a very intimate way, these are personal works, but they deal with universal themes,” Katie reflects.

The process of developing The Imagined Attractions Of Elsewhere began mid-way through 2020, as the artist found extra time in lockdown leading to a new ‘focus and dedication’. “I gave myself a longer time to make the works, the longest I have afforded myself actually and I think it comes across in the works,” Katie adds. 

It’s a Mad World Baby But We’re Prepared by Katie Eraser. Photo - Parker Blain.

“The final step in all my work is done with an oil stick - thick, textured and spreads like butter. I love how the two mediums clash and contrast, they reveal distinct and divergent conversations playing out across the canvas,” says Katie Eraser. Photo - Parker Blain.

“I sketch with the absence of sight and close my eyes until the sketch is done. I do this because over time and hours of painting I’ve found that the less contrived and planned the sketch or marks are the more interesting they become, the more alive they are.”

“As the works are really colourful and joyful, I feel like they suit the summer mood of the beaches, so I hope the community has a positive response to the works, and they enjoy viewing them as much as I did creating them,” says Katie Eraser.

The process of developing The Imagined Attractions Of Elsewherebegan mid-way through 2020, as the artist found extra time in lockdown leading to a new ‘focus and dedication’. “I gave myself a longer time to make the works, the longest I have afforded myself actually and I think it comes across in the works,” Katie adds. 

Katie’s paintings reflect a place of lust, loss, and longing, stemming from her own lived experience and queer ideology, but also the connections made with each other. Even outside the spread of COVID-19, and the lockdowns that followed in an attempt to curb the high rates of pain and loss, Katie always returns the idea of imagining the people and places of elsewhere. 

“The pandemic has had a huge impact on these works,” Katie shares. “I came to finishing the last few pieces for the exhibition, and I realised that the works were full of abstract figurative images of people. This might sound odd, but it almost came as a surprise to me at the end.”

Alongside the conceptual perspective of emotions and connections, Katie’s process is just as relevant to the works. The artist begins her paintings with a sketch, leaving these first marks visible for the viewer to reveal the development of each artwork.

I’m Thankful Every Time We Talk by Katie Eraser. Photo - Parker Blain.

Photo - Parker Blain.

Photo - Parker Blain.

“I don’t want to cover my sketch,” she muses. “They are uneven and messy and strange, all the things I try to breathe into my works. I don’t like perfection; I rebel against it in my works. I like humanness and the sticky and the strange.”

“Whenever I begin a new body of work, I spend weeks experimenting and working out new ideas, which means a lot of painting over works and making new ones so I can get to a place where I begin to feel into the flow of a new body of work.”

For the artist, the new body of paintings was a way for her to reach out to people, void of physical touch. For the Sydney exhibition, it became a way to reconnect with friends and family in Sydney — especially the baby niece she is yet to meet. 

“This is my first solo show in Sydney as Katie Eraser, and it feels great to be presented on the Northern Beaches,” she explains. “This area has a special place in my heart, I actually grew up in Sydney and went to high school on the Northern Beaches, so I have a lot of fond memories of the area and a lot of dear friends live here. “

As we continue facing COVID-19 restrictions and limitations, art like this can fulfil a methodology to connect us — even if only through the screen. As Katie contemplates, “these paintings tell the story of arms and minds outstretched.”

“This is my first solo show in Sydney as Katie Eraser, and it feels great to be presented on the Northern Beaches — this area has a special place in my heart,” explains Katie Eraser. Photo - Georgina Lowe.

SEE MORE FROM
KATIE ERASER

This article is proudly sponsored by the Northern Beaches Council as part of the series ‘Documenting Art in the Time of Corona.’ More information about the project can be found here.