2017 Programme
Image: Aaron Potaka, The Muse Presents the Writer with a Fully Developed Draft, Acrylic on mirror glass, 2017
Click on the image for the full programme.
About the image:
'The painting is a representation of writer's block and the anguish and frustration of constructing and narrating a story. The scene is a writer's studio, with a writer at her desk with barely-started synopses. The letter (with letter opener) alludes to a publisher's rejection letter and the challenge of overcoming disappointment.
The time of the scene shown by the clock suggests a late night as the curtains are closed and the lights are on. This implies the witching hour when the creative breakthrough comes. The muse, represented by the angel, has a look of serenity and assuredness, while the writer has a look of relief and joy.
The colour theory and style (and sunflowers) are in homage to Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) who, as an artist, went through his own travails in painting and being acknowledged. A letter is also depicted in Jacqueline Fahey's painting My Skirt's in Your ******* Room! (1978-79), in response to a rejection for her arts funding. These cues in The Muse Presents the Writer with a Fully Developed Draft reference the struggles 'artistes' have with their works being made and accepted.
The use of the mirror as the ground allows the painting to use reflected light in three intended parts of the painting: the halos for the angel and draft manuscript, and used as a reflection of light in the writer's eye. Accordingly these areas change luminance depending on the angle of light.'
Aaron Potaka