Grænseløs (Boundless)

Opening reception: Friday 17 April, 6–8 PM. All welcome. No RSVP necessary. Lily Mortensen is a Danish-Australian artist based in Sydney. Her paintings are defined by bold colour and fluid compositions which unfold according to the logic of dreams. Through emotive colour and spontaneous expression, Mortensen manifests rich, vibrant worlds saturated with ungraspable meaning. Her intuitive and unrestricted approach to materials and subject matter invites us into realms of personal mythology and free association, where unfiltered authenticity reigns supreme. Layered organic forms, architecture, collaged fragments, figurative drawing and rich textures all intertwine with subconscious flow to liberate, rather than narrow, our interpretation of the seen. Mortensen’s works are an exploration of her own mind in a physical-visual form, beyond the constructs of society. They are a communication unmediated by language, inviting us to understand what she is thinking and feeling on the inside, beyond words. In this primordial space of colour and form, Mortensen is able to be known. Perhaps then, it is the want and joy of connection which defines her works above all. Lily’s fearless exploration of consciousness, which transcends without negating, reveals a once-in-a-generation superabundance of imagination, spirit, and inner freedom. Through the universal language of colour and form, we are drawn into a participatory experience, as in dance and music. If we surrender to the experience, what we find is not something limited, but a glimpse of the infinite within us all – the boundless. Grænseløs Lily said to me that she is painting her world, and that the interpretation of her paintings is up to the spectator, but that the place she is painting is without a border. It should come as no surprise that this boundless place stretches across time and space... and necessarily touches the Surreal minds of others who have interpreted the same thing differently. The poet Stephane Mallarme said that “...the perfect symmetry of verses within the poem, of poems within the volume, will extend even beyond the volume itself; and this will be the creation of many poets who will inscribe, on spiritual space, the expanded signature of genius -- as anonymous and perfect as a work of art. Chimera, the thought of it is proof, reflected in her serpentine scales...” The Art which is part of such a great work, assembling All things as One vast collage, is not made to nail ideas down, but to loosen conversation, to see how opposites may fit together. In this regard Lily's paintings are an intoxicating substance and the apparent slurring of meaning is to the drunken ear the eloquent blending of sense. – Nick Collerson Lily said to me that she is painting her world, and that the interpretation of her paintings is up to the spectator, but that the place she is painting is without a border. It should come as no surprise that this boundless place stretches across time and space... and necessarily touches the Surreal minds of others who have interpreted the same thing differently. Lily Mortensen is a Sydney-based painter whose intuitive, process-led practice explores subconscious states and emotional perception. Working primarily on unstretched canvas, she layers spray paint, vinyl emulsion, oil, and watercolour to create compositions that shift between spontaneity and control.