BRILLIANT

BRILLIANT 2018 asked artists to explore the theme ‘Undercurrent’; an invisible force that moves beneath a surface. Only evident by it’s surroundings, you see the effects of the undercurrent but not the flow itself. It pushes. It pulls. It slows and gathers to create momentum. It takes us from one place to another, often in unsuspecting and surprising ways.

Title:

The Sacred Ibis

Specifications:

Size.
1800mm x 900mm
Medium.
Mixed Media on Canvas
Date.
3rd October 2018

The sacred ibis was an object of religious veneration in ancient Egypt, particularly associated with the deity Djehuty or otherwise commonly referred to in Greek as Thoth. He is responsible for writing, mathematics, measurement and time. 

In contemporary Australian culture the sacred ibis is commonly known as the ‘bin chicken’ for its practice of rummaging through refuse in built up urban areas. Often seen as a pest, the ‘sacred ibis’ no longer commands the reverence of past days.

But of course the ibis is a bird. It is only our anthropomorphism that complicates matters and layers opinion. 

Mark lives and works in Fremantle with his perennially happy labradoodle, Lily. Lily takes Mark for daily walks in the neighbourhood. Together they look at this and that, sniff here and there, and wonder at things big and small. Back in his studio, Mark puts his impressions down on canvas, nutting out the meaning of life one paint-dribble at a time. Lily, a virtuoso at napping, takes no notice at all.