Marika Cinders YouTube-01

July 2, 2020

At Home with Marika Varady – Part 2

About the Artwork
“Cinders was started at the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic, when the world turned upside down. The only solace I found at that time was that the fires all over Australia were finally starting to burn out and the cinders were subsiding. It is a dual analogy of hope that the world’s disasters settle and peter out like the cinders after a fire”. Marika Varady

Curator’s Notes
Smoke and flame are a consuming symbol for Marika Varady, whose plumes of cloud and vapour generate an intense and atmospheric immersion into the canvas. In her work, the forces of heat and cold engage as both primal and symbolic elements. The forceful beauty of nature immersed in pigment, is released with deft brush strokes. Blending rare pigments into oil to make her own paints forges the alchemy of Marika Varady’s lyrical vision. Hers is an environment of atmospherics that speaks of both fire and water illuminated by light.  
A primitive and ancient way of creating mark making artistry was through the use of naturally occurring minerals, such as rock & clay.
Just like Indigenous Australians employed the use of pigments, so does Varady, as part of her painting technique.
A wide range of earth colours are found in Australia, from the commonly recognised palette of red, orange, black, white, yellow and brown, through to purple, pink, green, and turquoise.
Pigments were sourced from known locations such as Walgi Mia in central Western Australia and from large coloured earth deposits in the Flinders Ranges.
Fixatives and binders have historically included plant resins and gums, orchid sap, honey, egg, blood, saliva, and animal fat. Contemporary binders include refined ‘Gum Arabic’, and P.V.A glue.

‘Cinders’,
Oil and Pigment on Canvas
186 x 56cm (framed)

Make an enquiry, [email protected]
Please call to speak with Art Consultant, Anne Wragby – 0438 700 712
Lay-by agreements available.