VIEWING ROOM

PAIGE NORTHWOOD
'SUBTLER AND SUBTLER STILL’

Jerico Contemporary is pleased to present our sixth solo exhibition with Australian artist Paige Northwood ‘subtler and subtler still’. In a gentle departure from the central Australian desert, ‘subtler and subtler still’ signifies Northwood’s coastal homecoming to the shores of Stanwell Park after living and practicing in the outback for the past 3 years. Where the interconnectedness between place, spirituality, and transformation have informed her previous bodies of work, this new exhibition witnesses the artist go inward like never before. 

Born from deeply personal experiences while meditating, ‘subtler and subtler still’ explores the nuances of our internal worlds. This new body of work reflects Northwood's curiosity about brainwave states during meditation, transcendental experiences, and the spaces we inhabit while we achieve various states of mind in silence. 

Perception and states of consciousness have been a fascination of the artist for as long as she can remember. We all find different types of meditative practices in our lives, and now neuroscience is now able to show us what is happening in these states. Children aged 0-7 years old are mostly existing within theta brainwave state, where their imagination is as real as reality. There is a free flowing creativity that children possess for this reason. Northwood has been studying how meditation is linked with creativity through research and experimenting with entering different brainwave states through meditation. As a result, her art practice became a facilitator of this internal exploration where she allowed herself to release from logic and expectation, and into the present moment. “As an artist, I feel like I’m always trying to get back to that childlike state, because you’re really connected, you’re really present and you’re not preoccupied and you’re so in that moment. It’s like an obsession trying to get back,” explains Northwood, “I was constantly playing with the fluid motion of conscious gestures of body-based energy, outside the realm of thought, space and time.”

Bringing together a collection of paintings and ceramic sculptures, the artist’s approach to painting continues to evolve. From working outside amid the vastness of the desert to embracing an indoor studio space again in lockdown, Northwood decided to harness the potential of her inner world and divulge her findings on large-scale canvases. Meditation shaped her entire creative process, sitting and meditating in front of each work for a period of 10 minutes or longer, while focussing on sensations up and down the body. Surrounded by her materials and various concoctions, moving through various brain wave states, she would then begin her metaphysical mark making process and lean into a free flow state. 

Extending on her creative process of utilising found materials and pigments reminiscent of her immediate surroundings, the paintings feature pigment collected from the Wodi Wodi walking track local to the Stanwell Park area in combination with traditional acrylics and clay. With an emphasis on layering, 2D works achieve a 3 dimensional quality and a significant sense of depth. Through this interplay between inner and outer landscapes, Northwood invites us into an energetic place permeated with a sense of oneness, and truth, representing what is possible when the mind is liberated from judgement.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:

Paige Northwood was born in 1988. Her solo exhibitions include, 'Meditations On Red', Jerico Contemporary, Sydney (2021), ‘Love and Fear’, Jerico Contemporary, Sydney (2020), ‘Company’, Jerico Contemporary, Sydney (2020), 'Sacred Life', Jerico Contemporary, Sydney (2019) and ‘The Mind That Bends’, Jerico Contemporary, Sydney (2018). Her group exhibitions include, 'Here & Now', Wollongong Art Gallery (2018), ‘Barkers & Biters’, aMBUSH, Sydney (2018), ‘Synchronicity’, Clifton School of Arts, Clifton (2016), ‘Overture’, Jerico Contemporary, Sydney (2016). The artist currently lives and works in Stanwell Park, NSW.