Click to enlarge thumbnail image.

Artist Statement

Kimberley Dodds most recent paintings will feature in an exhibition ‘Landscape – scenes from the subconscious’ which is inspired by a disturbing surreal current, in the form of the recent flood of the Towamba River. The community watched in fascinated awe as the detritus of lives flowed past, inspiring both literal and metaphorical readings of events. This served as a springboard for the visual reinterpretation of the story into a more mystical, dreamlike experience which touches upon the profound netherworld that exists at the edges of our waking lives. This emotional process has been enhanced by the physical execution of the works – acrylic on canvas or board, overlaid with glazes, scraped back, reworked and finished with varnishes or resins  – giving the painted surface a depth and complexity which augments the layering of meaning within the subject matter. The exhibition of her current work will be in the Spiral Gallery, Bega in September, 2011.

Biography

Kimberley Dodd is a painter, living and working from Towamba, NSW. Her most recent paintings will feature in an exhibition ‘Landscape – scenes from the subconscious’ which was inspired by a disturbing surreal current in the form of the recent flood of the Towamba River.  The exhibition will be in the Spiral Gallery, Bega in September, 2011.

Previous to the flood project, Dodd had painted Still life, depicting the hidden stories behind collections of objects accumulated during her travel and country living. This culminated in an exhibition ‘Three Kinds of Country – secret primal macabre’. It was a chance to showcase a change in direction from the ocean to the countryside where she now lives.

An avid diver, Dodd often depicted underwater scenes in her paintings, focusing on whales. In 1995 she spent time in Tonga researching for Auckland University on Humpbacks.  She has had several exhibitions based on this theme ‘Waterworld’, ‘Art of the Whale’ and ‘Oceania’. Kimberley Dodd was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1963 and received a BFA at the University of Auckland, majoring in graphic design. She spent most of the years preceding her move to Australia in 2000, working in the graphic design industry and travelling.

Education

1985 BFA, majoring Graphic Design, Auckland University, Elam School of Fine Arts.

Exhibitions