Creative duo, Anne Leon & Graham 'Potts' Porter, bring together A Matter of Balance, an exploration of the the natural balance between habitat, humans, plants, animals, the ocean and surfing. Within this context, their love of the natural environment in which they live is expressed.
Employing different approaches to the same themes, Anne & Potts found their work crossing over, which led to unique collaborative pieces that sing with form and colour.
From surfing collages, large scale native flora, and swathes of cloth to detailed imprints of bugs and forest litter on paper, this is a show filled with a sense of joy, the beauty of the Northern Rivers region, and nature in all its forms.
ANNE LEON
This show has been a journey of discovery, and the wonders I have found, photographed or picked up, in the everyday walks along the beach and bushland, I have recently visited.
My focus has been on interpreting the Natural World, through materials and techniques that help to demonstrate the tenuous balance of nature.
In particular, plant-dyeing, where the use of roots, leaves and flowers imprint onto paper and cloth, to create a delicate but defined, “eco-print”, formed by cooking the plant materials into the substrates. The dyeing often forms the first layer, to which I add screen-prints, etchings or drawings, sometimes hand-coloured and/or gold-leaf for spectacular highlights. Created by hand, signed by Nature!
GRAHAM 'POTTS' PORTER
Whether print-making, painting or collage, I am constantly fluctuating between genres and techniques to express my vision: The beauty of the trees inspires me to paint, the texture of the ocean lends itself to silkscreen printing and collage, while Australia’s wildflowers just come alive when translated to scraperboard, enlarged, hand coloured and printed.
It’s this combination that appeals to my sense of movement, colour and balance within my work, generating an energy that is palpable.