POLLY GILROY – Within and Without – 14 Oct-1 Nov 2019

Polly’s debut solo exhibition Within and Without presents a suite of eight 2019 works that quietly ask for your attention. The works demarcate space, absorb sound and activate different chromatic relationships within and without. These relationships are enhanced by light and shadow throughout the day, encouraging spacial awareness.

Within and Without is a term used in old English to mean ‘inside and outside’, although modern use of ‘without’ means ‘in absence of’ rather than the external. Within and Without exhibition explores the harmonies and tensions created between the inner and outer square, with intimate moments of absence creating a meditative visual experience.

 

Polly Gilroy is a Christchurch-based artist. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with first class Honours from Massey University, Wellington in 2017 and has exhibited work at PG Gallery192 (Christchurch), St Margaret’s College (Christchurch), Potocki Paterson Gallery (Wellington), Massey University (Wellington) and Wakefield Law Firm (Wellington).

As an abstract minimalist artist, Gilroy’s constructions encourage her audience to question the boundaries of traditional painting and the expected confines. She embraces the point of transition beween sculpture and painting, binding the two through multi-faceted structures. She responds to the complexities of colour through nuanced hues which are enhanced by the translucence of her silks. Gilroy’s works communicate a sense of fragility, silence, softness and ephemerality while also relying on structure and shape.