Juju Roche: Unearth - Exhibition Catalogue

UNEARTH

— JUJU ROCHE

Impressionist Interpretation; The Land 1, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

UNEARTH

— JUJU ROCHE

Through this new body of work, I investigate the natural world and the tension around how people experience and respond to it. By leaving my large scale paintings exposed to the wind, sun and rain; both the canvas and medium are left vulnerable to the natural environment. After the intrusion of mist, rain, sunlight and debris the residual forms become imprinted on the canvases and they retain the physical qualities of the environment.

Through this process I surrender aesthetic control over the outcome, inviting the viewer to consider humanity’s innate desire to control Mother Nature. My creative process further aims to challenge the audiences’ concept of creation and, of equal significance, destruction – a fundamental struggle we all experience.

This series is patterned with subtle line motifs and mark-making that aims to challenge our notion of beauty and prompt our perceptions to evolve. Throughout this body of work, I’ve used several alternative materials and methods of painting to untie learnt practices. I have worked with naturally produced charcoal, shellac, painted with feathers and used lengths of wood with painting implements taped to the end to create distance between myself and the painting. This has encouraged me to loosen my stroke and create a fresh perspective.

These works were produced on my family farm, a sight of personal significance. I have immersed myself into the subject, which is a landscape I am certainly familiar with, yet have never consciously studied or sat down to paint before. I am feeling particularly connected with my surroundings and have started to appreciate the environment and all that exists within it on a much more investigative, heart felt level.

In creating these landscapes my intention is to draw the viewer into a deeper space, and, with more focused observation, experience and realise the abstract and obscure.

Wagga Wagga Art Gallery

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3rd August to 22nd September 2019 Opening Night: 6-8pm, Fri 2nd August 2019

BIO —

In 2008 Juju Roche completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Sydney College of the Arts majoring in Painting. Roche went on to complete a Masters in 2012 at University of Western Sydney, focusing on teaching Art. The networks and techniques developed during her Arts degree and whilst working for Blue Mountain sculptor, Terrance Plowright, provided the experience and opportunities to broaden technical skills, create art for private collectors and businesses and exhibit on numerous occasions, both solo and collaboratively.

Roche’s work embodies movement reflective of current perceptions and self-examination.

Each painting is an autonomous creation revealing an exploration and celebration of nature, diverse emotion, impulse, chance, the accidental and the unpredictable. Her work refers to ethereal figurative landscapes, and also encompasses conceptual abstraction through a fluid use of colour and composition. In the quest to create transcendental scenes, Roche begins by envisaging a visual or physical experience, and then works on the canvas over a period of four to eight weeks: spilling, soaking, staining and reworking. Focus is centred on eliminating the brush gesture, resulting in a fluidity of colour that evokes a sensory response of the real and the imagined.

jujuroche.com.au

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E art@jujuroche.com.au I @juju.roche

1. Colour Of The Night 1, 2019 (top row)

4. Colour Of The Night 1V, 2019 (bottom row)

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

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2. Colour Of The Night 11, 2019

5. Colour Of The Night V, 2019

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

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3. Colour Of The Night 111, 2019

6. Colour Of The Night V1, 2019

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

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7. Impressionist Interpretation; The Land 1, 2019

10. Moon And Dust 1, 2019

Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

8. Impressionist Interpretation; The Land 11, 2019

11. Moon And Dust 11, 2019

Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

9. Impressionist Interpretation; The Land 111, 2019

12. Moon And Dust 111, 2019

Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

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13. Primed From Behind Panoramic Oil Study, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 300 cm (Six panel artwork. Each canvas 50 x 50 cm)

14. Shadow Hill Tops and Floating Gums, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

15. The Good Season Jungle Drum, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

16. Blushing Confidence, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

17. Emerald Night And Starry Reflection, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

18. Dewdrop and Motif, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

19. Mountains O’Things, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

Impressionist Interpretation; The Land 1, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

Still from time lapse

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Jeremy Kruckel

20. Dancing With Your Midnight Ghost, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

21. Shadowlands, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

22. Subtle Swoops, 2019 (above)

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

23. Falling High, 2019 (right)

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

22. Falling High, 2019 (right)

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

24. Lighter Vibes on a Warm Eve, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

25. Nervous Energy, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

26. Beneath The Burning Sky, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 165 x 165 cm

27. Finding Detail At Dusk, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 122 x 153cm

You are moving with nature, in a sense, to make the marks.

— JOHN WOLSELEY Impressionist Interpretation; The Land 1, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

28. Smokey Gums Under Blanket Blue 1, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

29. Smokey Gums Under Blanket Blue 11, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

30. Smokey Gums Under Blanket Blue 111, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm

31. Midnight Star Study From Shed Door 1, 2019 (top row)

33. Midnight Star Study From Shed Door 111, 2019 (bottom row)

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

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32. Midnight Star Study From Shed Door 11, 2019

34. Midnight Star Study From Shed Door 1V, 2019

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

Oil, mixed media on cotton rag 56 x 76 cm

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35. From Afar; The Rock Rubix’s, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 150 x 150 cm (Nine panel artwork. Each canvas 50 x 50 cm)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS —

I would like to acknowledge the Wiradjuri people who are the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which I exhibit my art.

I also pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging of the Wiradjuri Nation and extend that respect to other First Nations people.

May we walk gently on this land.

Thank you to the wonderful creative team of Tayla Martin, Jeremy Kruckel, Jackie Cooper and Elizabeth Robinson for their generous time, vision and efficiency. Wagga is blessed to have such vibrant talent and I am so grateful that our paths have crossed.

Thank you to the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery for providing the opportunity to present my work and to the Art Gallery Director, Caroline Geraghty, for her encouragement, words and support with the catalogue text. I realise the installation process and all that an exhibition encompasses is a massive task – I am very grateful for the team’s knowledge and hard work.

Finally, thank you to my beautiful Mick, Rosie, Jimmy and Francesca Roche for your patience, support and love. Thank you to my Mum (my sounding board), Jim, Dad and Carol for your continuous encouragement and belief. To my sister Jacko and my brother Will and your families. Thank you to Nene and the wider Roche family, Aunty Kim, Uncle Billy, Belinda King, Gemma Mcfarland, Kerrie Rudd and the many other supportive friends that continue to instill confidence in me and my art practice.

THANK YOU Elizabeth Robinson Catalogue design Jackie Cooper

Artwork photography

Tayla Martin

Studio shots

Jeremy Kruckel

Time lapse + video work

Wagga Wagga Art Gallery

SUPPORTED BY

Impressionist Interpretation; The Land 1, 2019

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Oil, mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cm