Julia Abraham

PAINTING

Notions of degeneration and regeneration constitute the central premise in my painterly investigations of human memory by thinking about how certain visual characteristics disintegrate while others perpetuate or even transform.

The idea that memory exists as layers of screens depicting certain events and past experiences compels my exploration of the depiction of remembering. Experience may be remembered as transparent sheets where each subsequent layer obscures the one prior. Degradation of the screens of memory collapse our understanding of complete experience, but may allow us to see through the voided or hazed areas to another memory that may have been pushed into the shadows.

Within each painting I am questioning the mnemonic potential that remnants of memory might have towards influencing higher-order consciousness, that is having the ability to recreate past experience, whether accurate or affected.

Tracks in the Snow. Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 50 inches. 2009.

Spring Defrost. Acrylic and earth on canvas. 50 x 40 inches. 2009.

Harmonic Voids. Oil and acrylic on linen. 60 x 40 inches. 2009.

Dislocation. Oil on canvas. 30 x 30 inches. 2008. Private collection.

Tracing the Site. Oil and burlap on canvas. 45 x 35 inches. 2008.

Fade. Oil on canvas. 40 x 40 inches. 2009.

Northern Ontario - Dislocated. Acrylic and paper on linen. 40 x 40 inches. 2009.

October, Ontario. Acrylic on wood. 30 x 30 inches. 2009.

Cold Ground, series of 5. Documentation of performance in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia. Beeswax, burlap, earth on linen. 17 x 22 inches. 2008.

Mnemonic Binding. Oil and burlap on canvas. 40 x 40 inches. 2008.

Flower Paths. Oil, acrylic and wool on linen. 35 x 35 inches. 2008. Private Collection.

The Bridge. Acrylic and burlap on linen. 50 x 30 inches. 2008. Installed in the office of the Chancellor of the University of Toronto.

Dance on the Earth. Oil, earth, and tree bark on canvas. 40 x 20 inches. 2008. Private collection.

JULIA ABRAHAM