Hokusai Fellatio was one of the first works completed under the auspices of Vermillion Borders. Linda Marie created a series of ink works using decalcomania technique. One of the reactions to this series of acrylic ink paintings was that they were ‘restaurant’ quality and not leaning towards Hokusai. I pondered the works and thought about the second last time I saw Hokusai. I was vastly amused to see National Gallery of Victoria didn’t include this genre in the show.
I responded with my technique, wearing Paloma Picasso Mon Rouge, a birthday present from a dear friend, giving the work the second half of its title.
Vermillion Borders
Flesh, rock, lip, sea.
Vermillion Borders maps our emotional cartography. A vermillion border is the line around your lips separating skin and lip. What is outside of the line? What is contained inside the border?
Linda explores our relationship with the land through surreal landscapes, where my arts practice is based on ways of communication and complexity in life. Their practices use ink, watercolour and graphite on paper (both), digital and encaustic (Fiona), and oils and text (Linda). Vermillion Borders is a series of mixed media works unified by a limited colour palette of red, black and white and careful curation. The works were generated by one artist producing a starting point and sending it to the other to complete: creating a true integration of both artist’s practice. The stages were completed in isolation so that each cannot influence the other’s response to the original.
The works were mapped to gallery space at Alternating Current Art Space to fit into the walls, ceiling beams and the energy flow to and from other shows.
“A map tells you where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going — in a sense it’s three tenses in one.”
Peter Greenaway