Artist Receptions:
* Malcolm Baker:  Friday, June 7, 5:00-7:00 pm
* Annu Yadav:  Saturday, June 8, 5:00-7:00 pm

Theatre Main Gallery

Annu Yadav – Anatomy of Gaze: Relational Identity

Annu Yadav Artist Statement:

I think of my paintings and wearable sculptures as colored visages that reinforce the deep inner strength & contemplation of the feminine. My work takes a reflective view of the social, political and cultural challenges faced by women. Specifically interpreting how their imprints are felt on her.

The experience of dealing with sexual abuse, while growing up in India has shaped my inner landscape. Feminine expression was highly subdued and my own experiences from the unhealthy treatment of women left a deep imprint on me.

My inspiration stems from a love and hate relationship with India’s deeply layered culture. I explore themes of sexual suppression in-laid with the emotive impressions of gaze. My artwork inspects this relational tension between the self and the observer. The strength and endurance of the self and expressing effect of the other.

I found the histories of surrealism, cubism and Indian folk art to be useful in the rearranging of received ideas. My arrangements are singular and isolating in nature, offering a sense of solemn. A stolen quiet moment with oneself: inviting the viewer into an instance of speculation. I find the interplay of sexuality, seduction, grotesque and the implied guilt particularly intriguing.

I have no grand illusions for how would art bring revolution in the modern world, but I do want to believe that art can bring powerful changes in an individual. An offering of some sorts to connect with the rest of the unfamiliar humanity.

Crescendo Gallery

Malcolm Baker – Seeking Grace: Images of Asian Travels

Malcolm Baker Artist Statement:   

I came to more serious photography later in life following a career in which I was paid to explore and explain the world, using the spoken and written word.  So it’s been a joy for me to largely leave words and explanations behind and to just present the world as I see and feel it through my photographs.

In my photography, whether it’s landscape work here at home or more ‘cultural’ work overseas, I attempt to capture moments of beauty and harmony, moments that reflect the order and balance that I look for in the phenomenal world.

‘Seeking Grace’ is about those epiphanies which can happen behind the camera and which, if one is diligent and blessed, may later emerge in the printed image.  The work draws from multiple trips I took, with other photographers, across four Asian countries over the last 10 years.