From Andrew Frost…
The sense of dislocation one feels when looking at Linda Marrinon’s work is profound. Carved from plaster, painted and sometimes adorned with objects and fabric, her sculptures have a distinct out-of time feel to them. Given the artist’s propensity to work with ancient forms of sculpture like the bust and the full figure in miniature, the first reaction is that her works are modelled on classical statuary – and certainly there’s an element of that in the work.
But the truly odd perceptual shift is founded in just how familiar these figures feel, as they come from some era more recent like the Flapper 1920s, or the pages of the New Yorker, or perhaps some sort of prop or costume model for a Wes Anderson movie. The familiarity is troubling, but compelling.
For her latest outing with Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Marrinon has produced a collection of seven busts with hair, makeup and other accessories that give clues to the identity of the sitter and, although ostensibly contemporary portraits, the works retain their patina of another time. The real magic in the work is just how minimal it is – a hair line, a hair style, the simple painted line that creates an eyebrow or a look, is sketched with an economy of gesture that leaves much out but is full of possibility.
Until May 24
Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Paddington
Pic: Linda Marrinon, Untitled, 2014. Tinted and painted plaster, 39.5x19x21cms.
