Can a woman be complete without experiencing motherhood? The question intrigues Ann New and inspired the art works in her latest show, Perchance, at Sin Sin Fine Art.
The installation was performed live at the opening recently. With brush in one hand and palette in the other, the mainland artist scaled a ladder to paint on the reverse side of a four-metre high pane of glass.
New obviously relished the spontaneity of the moment. She mixed colours into the black ink paintings, adding her trademark calligraphy along the corners as a finishing touch. After about 15 minutes, one pane was done.
Abstractly feminine, the installation works nevertheless possess the same combination of fluid motion and apparent randomness as her other pieces - mostly oil on canvas - on show. The themes are also similar. Pieces include a voluptuous figure with her hands folded across her belly, wearing an expression that's both demure and alluring, on a ground of mustard yellow. Another is in the classic pose of the reclining female, while a third seems to float on a cloud, limbs askew yet with a determined gaze. Closer inspection reveals a tiny figure in a satchel as a central element in each composition.
'That's a little devil inside the body,' says New, pointing to her triptych Mad Noon. 'During that period, I produced a lot of devils. I like the yellow. It was done early in the morning. My friend was pregnant, and I was going through a little baby crisis.
'I'm not a mother, so I was curious about the experience. You can see the lines are uncertain. They're jumpy.
