New Work Friday #218

“Liminality refers to a state of psychological disorientation arising from a transient condition of being that lies between past and future. One’s unknown destiny lies poised at the threshold between these two dichotomous positions. The theme of the exhibition revolves around a young woman living in transition as an outsider conflicted between countries, cultures and her sense of self. So her liminal state denotes her mental and physical transition of being here but remembering there.

“I have an ongoing fascination with the outsider position, where many of us unintentionally find ourselves. For an immigrant culture such as Australia’s, there is an implicit sense of liminality that derives from not only the unknown future but also the uncertain past. This state engenders a sense of potential for being lost and found, with the attendant possibility of reconstructing knowledge about identity and self. With the ambiguity between this fragility and strength, there is an inherent vulnerability of mind.

“The paintings investigate aspects of dislocation, integration and fragmentation of being on the edge, unbalanced yet powerful. The transience and uncertainty are interpreted in the paintings through the representation of multiple figures that oscillate between a sense of losing and of finding themselves. The vulnerability of subject and fragility of place are signified by the figures, which are situated in improbable and physically awkward spaces. The uncompromising paraphernalia and non-rational spaces are restrictive and mentally confusing, with many false ends. Ladders become pathways to improbable journeys. The spaces the figures occupy are dimly lit with a warm glow. This landscape and the ambiguity of place impede easy passage and trap the figures within their psyches” – excerpt from artist’s statement by Deborah Marks.

LIMINALITY, Stanley Street Gallery, 1/52-54 Stanley Street, Darlinghurst, 30 March-April 22 2017,