Jen Tarry-Smith's debut solo exhibition at Boom continues the artist's exploration of 'line' and the infinite potential it offers. A prolific and committed artist, Jen's practice moves between the different modes of printmaking - from lithographs to linoprints and etching.

For Cerulean Currents, Jen has also progressed into painting, her mesmerising and highly detailed mark making now also in oil paint on linen.

ARTIST STATEMENT

"Humans have a tendency to observe patterns everywhere; from microscopic patterns to a cosmic scale, patterns in our natural environment, in the behaviour of plants and animals, in sound, in smell, in time, in human behaviour and in man-made objects. This recognition of pattern allows us to make sense of our world and to predict what is to come. I am drawn to the intricacies and nuances that emerge as pattern evolves and changes to suit its environment. It is these subtle differences that distinguish the hand-made from machine-made, and highlights the beauty in the imperfect.

Cerulean Currents is a documentation of the shifting tides and changing natural patterns along the Bellarine Peninsula. These patterns are a tapestry woven from the elemental forces that shape our Earth; from the dance of wind-waves across the ocean's surface to the intricate symmetry of rock formations etched by time. They encompass the mesmerising allure of fractals and spirals, echoing the rhythmic cadence of seasonal transitions.

Like a view glimpsed with half closed eyes, the exhibition is the culmination of impressions formed by the senses whilst by my favourite place to watch the ocean. Each line is a response to the curves and crevices that come before it, and attempts to capture the quality of light, the depth of shadow, the shapes and lines, textures, the smells and fragments of sound and the essence that form our impressions and constitute our memories of this location. The essence of this location is distilled into each artwork - a shadowy imprint of the spirit that pervades this place."

BIO

Jennifer Tarry-Smith is a Melbourne based artist working in the mediums of printmaking and painting.  She produces abstract works that are meditative explorations of line and negative space.

Tarry-Smith is drawn to the intricacies and nuances that emerge as pattern evolves and changes to suit its environment. It is these subtle differences that distinguish the hand-made from machine-made, and highlights the beauty in the imperfect.

Tarry-Smith has participated in over 25 exhibitions in Australia and internationally since graduating with a Bachelor degree in Drawing and Printmaking at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2018.