These paintings form a metaphorical step across a causeway into a realm of the basic manifestations of the elemental forces: Air, Fire and Water. Walking through the gallery becomes a journey though metaphysical energies, leading us to align with the rise, fall and shift of the elements.
One thing that immediately strikes the viewer is the amount of movement in these images. These are not passive elements; they are living, dynamic forces. They are animated images, living states of ethereal flux, celebrating the power of the elements. In her paintings of water; waves pulse and flex like muscles, in her vivid depictions of fire, sparks of definition crackle over the soft flames whooshing beneath.
Rebecca Hind, Crest ,£4500
One of the newest and most impressive of the paintings on show is her depiction of air: Glitterbirds. Here the sky is represented as a fluid space by the movements of flocks of birds within it. These birds swarm and drift, moving as one body, framed by soft clouds in a sky composed of diffuse beams of light. Similarly, in her representations of water; white spume on the crest of waves ripple and undulate over the calmer washes of colour beneath. This gives visible contours to the movement of the transparent body.
Rebecca Hind, Glitter Birds, £4950
Her use of watercolour is ideally suited to the ethereal nature of this subject matter. With the transparency and flow of the medium comes the suggestion of the transparency and flow of the element represented. Despite, in some cases, being figurative, these images are also enormously expressive. They manage to take on an abstract quality which is as important as their, more obvious, figurative nature.
Rebecca Hind,Sparks on the Summer Triangle, £2250
In this exhibition, Curwen and New Academy Gallery gives a chance to see a new and original practitioner within the tradition of watercolour painting. Her work is attractive and uplifting as well as being academically interesting. The work illustrates the potential of watercolour painting to explore ambitious themes while also being appropriate for domestic spaces. These works fit well in both the gallery and the home, giving equal delight to the casual browser and the determined collector.
Rebecca Hind Causeway will be showing at Curwen and New Academy Gallery until 30th September 2011
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