Art

Louise Tuckwell · Concrete Expression

Sydney artist Louise Tuckwell is known for her bold abstract paintings and small geometric tapestries. Working from her tiny apartment in Potts Point, Louise’s work is necessarily small in scale, but is often created across multiple panels, forming diptychs, triptychs or polyptychs.

Louise’s latest body of work can be seen in an exhibition entitled Concrete Expression at Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Collingwood, Melbourne until April 3rd.

Written
by
Lucy Feagins

‘Wild Surmise’ by Louise Tuckwell, acrylic on board, 30cm x 40cm.

‘Whisper and Shout’ by Louise Tuckwell, acrylic on board, 30cm x 60cm.

‘Ghost Town’ by Louise Tuckwell, acrylic on board, 30cm x 60cm.

‘Red Mouth’ by Louise Tuckwell, acrylic on board, 40cm x 30cm.

‘Change and Sameness’ by Louise Tuckwell, acrylic on board, 30cm x 60cm.

‘Gravity and Inertia’ by Louise Tuckwell, acrylic on board, 20cm x 80cm.

Writer
Lucy Feagins
8th of March 2016

Louise Tuckwell graduated from art school in Sydney in the mid 1980’s. Soon afterwards, she found work at Garry Anderson Gallery, known for showing abstract artists, both Australian and international. Agnes Martin, Allan Mitelman, Nigel Hall, Peter Atkins, John Nixon and Joe Felber were amongst the artists Louise was exposed to here, and their influence left a lasting impression. ‘I fell in love with non-objective form – their geometric vocabulary’ recalls Louise.

We often ask artists how they describe their own work, and Louise has a particularly memorable response to this question! –

‘I would describe my work as ‘Concrete’. It is simple, dense, opaque and hard-edged, colourful and emblematic’ – Louise Tuckwell

Louise’s creative process is intuitive rather than planned. ‘I am always aware of the ‘Golden mean’, the association in geometry between beauty and truth – the three “ingredients” to beauty being symmetry, proportion and harmony.’ she says. Such statements exemplify an uncompromising rigour in Louise’s practice, but she’s also highly practical. ‘I have gone from oil on canvas to acrylic on timber, the reason for this is because I became a mother and I needed a quick clean-up and non-toxic materials’ she says, matter of factly.

Louise works from home – a small apartment in Sydney’s Potts Point. ‘A third of my tiny flat is dedicated to my art practice, therefore, the work is small in scale’ says Louise, adding ‘luckily my teenage son understands.’

Louise’s distinctive paintings can be seen in Melbourne this month in an exhibition entitled Concrete Expression, at Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Collingwood.

Louise Tuckwell is represented by Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Melbourne and Gallery 9 in Sydney.

Concrete Expression by Louise Tuckwell
On now until 3 April
Nicholas Thompson Gallery
155 Langridge Street
Collingwood, VIC

‘Painting A Curtain’ by Louise Tuckwell, acrylic on board, 40cm x 40cm.

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