Jane Bustin, Commandant, 2019. Acrylic, wood, copper, 57cm x 40cm. Courtesy: the artist and Fox Jensen McCrory, Auckland.

Jane Bustin‘s works can present themselves as unflinchingly precise – shaped by Modernism’s call for clarity. Whilst there is an intriguing distortion and shimmer visible in the smaller copper sections where the polished surfaces snare fragments of light and ambient imagery, the greater proportion of these compositions have a highly stilled composure about them… until you move that is.

Once we are ‘off-centre’ the edges of the panels are revealed and so we appreciate their depth and material character, as well as glimpsing unexpected slices of colour and discreet areas with feathery, stained touches. These attributes animate the shallow space Bustin’s constructions occupy and lend greater form and density to the object. Viewed obliquely we are also made aware of the first signs of disruption. This activation is not just visual but deeply associative. The modernist formality that is signalled at first sight dissipates swiftly as the paintings’ composition encourages this more intimate, circular interview. These are paintings that invite curiosity, not just about their own constitution and their intention but about looking with an inquisitorial eye.

Event opening: Thursday 22nd July, 5:30-7:30pm.

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