Julia Gorman: Reflection on reflection
From 12 September 2024
Reflection on reflection is a new site-responsive installation from artist Julia Gorman. Activating SAM's Level 1 landing and feature window, Gorman's bright, organic forms flow across the glass and polished concrete, spilling vibrant colour and light into the space.
I use colour combined with line to create a structure. Within that structure there are combinations of positive and negative spaces which, I hope, bring the space to life in ways that are dynamic and full of movement and emotion. I want a sense of things opening, light coming through the broken-up spaces, colours sparking energy by being placed next to one another, and a visceral feeling for the material.
Each architectural space provokes a different emotional response in me. I look for existing forms which could be a pattern or an object or a fashion of the time that speaks to that emotion, and also to the possibilities inherent in the space itself. Like the controlled accidents that happen in the drips of green glazes on SAM’s collection of early twentieth-century pottery, I let imperfections and materiality create a connection with the viewer, so that it doesn’t just happen in the visual fi eld, or intellectually, but draws you in through a visceral connection or memory, becoming a bodily response as well.
The drawing responds to the man-made lake outside the window, reflecting the colour of the algal blooms and adding another layer to a complex interplay taking place here between outside and inside, nature and culture, and accident and design.
— Julia Gorman, 2024
About the artist
Julia Gorman (b. 1968 Melbourne, VIC) has been making vibrant abstract paintings, wall drawings, and sculptures since the late 90s.
Gorman has exhibited internationally and throughout Australia, showing at major institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, as well as the National Gallery of Victoria, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne. Her works are held in public and private collections around Australia.
Location: Level 1, SAM
Free