The Sun Comes at Dawn
The Sun Comes at Dawn (Solis Occasum)’, the first international solo exhibition by Australian Artist, Heath Newman, which I facilitated, curated and produced in collaboration with The Dot Project in Holland Park. ‘The Sun Comes at Dawn’ looks to explore the world of duality and the nature of the soul, where the light and the dark take roles in common archetypes from ancient myths to the circadian rhythm of life. As many a profound statement makes “the sun befalls night only to be awoken again in the morning”, and so the balance of life is restored. This concept is prevalent throughout ancient fables, stories and proverbs. Abstracting these concepts, Newman looks to create a subtext to the fables, a renewed dialogue between this world, and others, peeling back the veil to the world of ideas and journeying to a realm of reverie. Working with calligraphic “automatic writing” Newman is looking to create an esoteric language and a connection involving a unified understanding of the nature of reality. Each work suggests presence of a Myth, story or character in which the protagonist’s role was to connect wildness to humankind and the balance of light and dark. The works are a combination of legends and nature, taking their cue from Greco-Roman- Egyptian mythology exploring the personification of place, sentiment and actions. ‘The Sun Comes at Dawn’ moves from Newman’s explorations of sleep and dreams, focusing on the lesser represented emotions of ancient legends whilst modernising and amalgamating their subtext through a use of symbology, glyphs, scrawls and flora. The works present an aim to transport the viewer to a realm of reverie and aid them walk the serpent line of beauty exploring a version of Arcadia where sensations and myth spill and blossom into flowers. Combining fragments of still life, strokes, scrawls and colour fields, the artist describes his work as a mental map; both of his subconscious and of the greater, deeper collective consciousness. These ideas and the exploration of colour in Heath’s work continues to drive his exploration of texture, tone, perception and depth; the rise of colour in the human eye and brain, the appreciation and discrimination of harmony and the confusion and intrigue of visual perception.