FIGURE & GROUND – March, 2024
McAtamney Gallery, Geraldine
In the evocative series Figure and Ground, Kim Hennessy presents a bold juxtaposition of form and space, where the vivacity of flowers is cast against the stark simplicity of opaque grounds. Through her adept manipulation of contour lines—thick, thin, light, dark, hesitant, fluid, strong, vulnerable—Hennessy delineates the boundaries of existence, both questioning and asserting the place of natural beauty in a fabricated realm. The graphic line quality in her work, a direct evidence of the artist’s hand, adds a layer of intimacy to the pieces, inviting the viewer to traverse the emotional landscape embedded within each stroke.
Hennessy’s choice of solid, pop-like colours in the backgrounds does not merely serve as a foil to the sculptural flowers that command attention in the foreground; these choices resonate with a deeper inquiry into what it means to stand alone, unanchored by the usual contexts that define or confine. The flowers, rendered with a statuesque quality, require no support to assert their presence. They are singular entities, each arrangement floating in a vacuum, cut out from their domestic scenes like collages, creating a visual tension that is both unsettling and liberating.
The lack of shadows in Hennessy’s compositions further accentuates this sense of detachment, the flowers and their vibrant hues suspended in an indeterminate space that feels both nowhere and everywhere. This deliberate choice challenges the viewer to confront the flowers on their own terms, as entities that are simultaneously present and absent, vibrant yet isolated. This intimate quality is further explored with closely cropped passages of the paintings produced on hand made ceramic plates.
Figure and Ground is an invitation to explore the paradoxes of visibility and existence, where Kim Hennessy masterfully employs the language of flowers to narrate stories of beauty, isolation, and the innate human desire to belong. Through her striking use of colour, line, and form, Hennessy crafts a world where the ephemeral nature of flowers speaks to the enduring quest for meaning in an ever-shifting landscape.