Halo 2012

Halo - Tim Olsen Gallery, October 2012

www.olsenirwin.com.au

Marisa Purcell’s new series of paintings are contemporary ruminations upon sacred painting, specifically, Fra Angelico at the San Marco monastery in Florence. While undertaking a residency in Chianti, Italy, in April-May 2012, Marisa worked in a 10th century monastery ‘Il Pieve di San Cresci’.

In much the same way as a fresco is imbued with the reverence of the painter toward his subject, these paintings reveal the artists’ passion for light, tone and colour and the act of painting itself as a means to reveal the abstract.  Purcell is intrigued by the way in which colour fields can saturate and permeate the viewer. 
The paintings enshroud and affect the viewer with layered realities.  An immediate sensory reaction gives way to a more considered response that changes in different lighting conditions.  The act of painting is distilled, culminating in works that vibrate and hum.

Photography: Jennifer Leahy, www.silversalt.com.au