By Molly Magennis
A new exhibition exploring colour in the face of a pandemic is showing at Five Walls art gallery in Footscray.
‘Crossovers’ was created by Seddon local Hannah Maskell and Anna Farago, who also has strong family ties in the west.
The two have known each other for quite some time with Farago being Maskell’s former art teacher.
The exhibition was conceptualised in 2020, when both artists were discussing the demands of family life, and how to navigate an art practice amongst their domestic responsibilities.
“Then in 2021, it kind of felt like a good thing to gravitate back to, to meditate on,” Maskell said.
“Not make work that was you know, overtly political or you know, explicitly about what was happening, but was still quite cathartic and therapeutic and important to kind of make your brain play with color.”
“The need for producing work based on colours felt quite heightened, especially in 2020 when everything was so full on.”
While the two didn’t actively collaborate, the similarities between the pieces of work created by both artists were an inspiration for the exhibition’s title.
“That’s why we call the show crossovers, because there are plenty of crossovers in our lives…. there’s plenty of crossovers in our work,” Maskell said.
“And then crossovers more literally because a lot of the shapes and lines in our work actually cross over each other.”
Maskell said she’s been really pleased with how the exhibition has been received so far.
“Opening was really well received with a lot more people coming than I thought, and I realized that’s because it’s local, and so many people live around here. I think people are just excited that exhibitions are happening again.”
‘Crossovers’ is open to the public until February 5.
