Sandra Okalyi
At the moment, I am exploring patterning, perhaps patterning was never really too far off the agenda. I like repetition in anything tangible and enjoy slightly altering the repeated pattern or at least disturb the uniformity of it. A psychologist could no doubt have a field day with that one! Often these patterns end up in vessels, I simply love vessels.
Therefore, living on this beautiful Island in Moreton Bay delivers up a multitude of ordered, natural systems for me to play with. For me, it is play, obviously serious play because I am both compelled to do it as a profession and aware that I have to attempt to pay the rent. If I can somehow manage to imbibe the work with a little bit of humour then I am most happy with that. A social commentator I am not.
Turret fish are frequently washed up on the beach and sometimes, like other members of their family such as the blowfish, they are often found dangling from the ends of fishing lines copping an unfair amount of abuse. Their tiny bodies are made up of a lot of little armoured plates and they look more like a shell than a fish . . . and then, there is the beak! They are just exquisite. I made this piece in fascination of the patterning on the body and in awe of their shell-like resemblances. I wanted to convey the patterning and fragility to the lonely, vulnerable vessel, vaguely shaped as a Turret fish.
The other two pieces again reveal layering, emulation of form and simplicity. I deliberately kept all work in black and white to further emphasise these characteristics. Often, looking from the surface into the ocean, objects appear as shadows rather than as distinct ones displaying their colours.
I’d like to mention the wax since a lot of people want to know about it. The paintings are synthetic polymer paint on a wax-coated board, etched, repainted and scraped back. This gives an overall etched appearance and some depth and richness to the synthetic polymer paint. I thoroughly enjoy using wax since it is a mixture of painting and sculpture that I have developed from many years of working with clay.