Multidisciplinary artist Rowena Martinich returns to Boom for her first solo exhibition with us, Summer Electra - a vibrant explosion of colour and texture in our vast Big Boom gallery space. 

Rich surfaces and gestural brushstrokes in each painting capture the kinetic energy and moments of joy Martinich experiences when making. This body of work is optimistic and celebratory - perhaps a time capsule of warm summer days, neon sunsets and ocean swims. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

Sweeping multicoloured brushstrokes, hazes of spray and smatterings of confetti-like paint break across the surface of these dynamic works to culminate in Rowena Martinich’s latest solo exhibition, Summer Electra. Imbued with the memory and experience of the artist these paintings embody multitudes of smaller details which unfold and reveal themselves upon deeper inspection.

Immersive and exuding energy, with Summer Electra, Martinich clearly demonstrates her expertise as an abstract painter, achieving a delicate yet confident body of works that explores the intersections between where a stroke begins and where it ends.

Colours mix on the canvas as they pass over each other, softly or abruptly overlapping and wiping back to reveal integral sections of the painting beneath.

Washes of watery colour liquefy and splash, track and play amidst and across the giant all-encompassing gestures.

Combining softness with liveliness and striking a balance between space, gesture, line, composition, muted hues and a luminously bright palette; these paintings occupy the space between the personal and the creative.

They express what cannot be written or spoken but which resides indomitably in the artist. Process-based, the works embody elements that unfold in life outside the studio.

Hence, the exhibition is named after the artist’s daughter, Summer Electra, yet they are also platforms for the audience in which to create their own stories, craft their own dialogues; space to evoke their own abstract reflections and emotional response.

BIO

Rowena Martinich continues to push the boundaries within the public and private art sectors, transforming once ordinary spaces into luscious colour-scapes.

In the studio she is driven by process. Her paintings are constantly shifting and evolving, building on each other to reflect a particular interest in the technical capacity of paint, each particular body of work displaying a curiosity in the application of fluid layers. Informed by years of painting experience Martinich works intuitively to create seemingly spontaneous and playful yet balanced compositions; rich in luminous colour and gesture. This studio practice directly informs Martinich’s work in the public realm – scale being the shifting factor. For her, moving beyond the private interior of the artist’s studio, to connect with others though her practice is where her work functions on its highest level.