Presence, absence and transience have been enduring themes in Pearse’s work, whether in passing mental states or depictions of fleeting reflections on water. Her series of works, Wetland Works, 2005 (done while an artist-in-residence in Portland Victoria, 2003, and exhibited in the Lismore Regional Gallery in 2005-2006), combine tree trunks, landscape, water and reflections in compositions of abstracted shapes and sophisticated colour use: organic tree trunks blend with rigid rectangles and ochre yellows abut pinks and dark blues.
Following the death of her husband in 2004, the theme of presence, absence and transience has been the feature of Pearse’s work. A series of works based on the presence and absence of large tents erected for the Byron Bay writers’ festival make presence and absence visible in compositions based on an abstracted tent shape. Although seen to relate to loss and uncertainty, these works also have a strong sense of stability in their strong geometrical shapes, the serenity of their muted browns, greens and grey colours, and the confidence of their precise brush-work.
This series of works, while relating to her personal circumstances, was foreshadowed stylistically by a series of mixed media works (paint, ink, and aquarelle) done in 1994. The earlier works depict geometrically shaped buildings, piers and quays around Sydney bays. Buildings with horizontal rows of windows and storeys fill the width of the picture plane, their more rigid forms contrasted with quietly lapping bodies of water and reflections in the foreground.
Bodies of work
Spaces that Come and Go
Wetland Works
Next theme Cityscapes