STA are delighted to kick off the year with a visit to Goulburn based Barbara Nell in her current show Recall ‘Exhibition of Travel Memories’ at the Goulburn Club.

We have even published this week’s Story early to give people a chance to get in and meet the artist in the space today. So, head in to the Goulburn Club for a special artist’s reopening event from12pm.

At the present, my studio is a small bedroom in our home. There are plans for a new space in 2021. It has been my space to capture memories, working quickly without too much fussing or editing of mark making. During 2020, my partner had been homebound with some surgery. We developed the routine of me working very energetically, usually with two or three works on the go at once. When I sensed getting close to completion, I invited him to have a ‘quick glance’. His discerning objective eye is so valuable in helping me pull back from over working the surfaces. These defining moments were concurrently challenging and settling. This process assisted me in keeping a raw quality in the work and continue the momentum within the body of work.

There have been trips to Italy and events witnessed that inspired these current works, but it has been a continuing investigation of movement and light, that has sustained my painting practice. The process of painting these works take me there. This is definitely an antidote to COVID-19, non-travelling times. As the body of work unfolded, I found there was more to say. Night scenes offer me so many possibilities with subtle shadows and vague areas of uncertainty. The works are about memories, becoming sharp or distorted. Fleeting, uncertain, shadows and movement. I’m drawn to capturing the atmosphere created by all those elements.

Recall ‘Exhibition of Travel Memories’ at the Goulburn Club. The exhibition is open every Friday & Saturday between 12pm and 5pm until 31st January.

Follow Barbara on Instagram and visit her Art Agent website.