Robertson opens door to the netherworld

Artist Jo Robertson with one of her works. Photo supplied.

It's hard to tell whether Jo Robertson's figures are trying to escape their world, or reaching out to drag us into theirs.

The large canvases are a portal into a world of hedonism, unsated lust and unrequited desire.

Ecstasy and agony entwine and writhe in a swirling pastel quicksand.

It's an alluring place, but an innate sense of self-preservation questions whether you really want to go there.

Sinuous and sensual figures silently scream: "Beyond here lie dragons".

The Dunedin artist has looked into her own depths for her latest exhibition, "Impassioned Eye".

The multimedia exhibition features 1.4m by 1.8m oil canvases alongside smaller oils, pastel drawings and huge 3m by 2m acrylic, pastel and gouache works on dressmaker's paper.

"Rather than tell people what it's about, 'Impassioned Eye' alludes to how it came about," Robertson says in her Dowling St studio.

"It's self-critical in a detached way. They're feelings that have meaning for me that I can explore deeply. It's cathartic and, perhaps because of that, it's hard work. When I'm painting it's like a meditative practice. I'm trying to ... become more adept at translating very real and important aspects of the human emotional and mental spectrum.

"I work on an intuitive level, translating whatever mental, emotional, spiritual or physical state I'm feeling. I'm pretty intense when I'm working. I like to make works about deeper ideas and desires, because it comes out with a real intensity. They're not violent or aggressive, but they are intense. I can't do anything that doesn't hold my interest. So, when I'm painting, it is personal.

"I wear my tattoos on the inside and that's where they stay. To quote Francis Bacon: 'I try to work as close to my nervous system as possible'," she says.

"Art should manifest a type of beauty beyond that which reality itself exhibits. Art is connected to every aspect of our lives, and is an inseparable part of life."

The works are also inseparable from Robertson, for they are a portrait of the artist as a young woman.

"I use my own figure as a foundation to express and interpret various states of being. Using myself as a model also gives me more flexibility than hiring models.

"It's also a point of identification for others to lead their own interpretation to. I hope to invoke deeper feelings in people who seek to see something that affects them on the inside.

"I take photos of myself with the camera on the timer and then paint off the computer screen. This means I can move about in the photo in a kind of virtual world. It purely comes down to how I feel at that time and the emotional or mental state I would like to explore. Then I select a photo that resonates with that. I paint with my eye, like with a life drawing, except I'm a computerised model."

The works reveal themselves to Robertson as she paints.

"Normally, I start by just throwing paint at the canvas. I don't do preliminary drawings, so there is a certain amount of chaos in there. Things get edited and painted over and brought back again. The work evolves and morphs around that. It gets totally destroyed and re-formed," she says.

"These works [in "Impassioned Eye"] feature lots of hands. I like hands. Hands relate to emotions and the different aspects of the body and people's character. I did some research on mudras, Indian hand forms that have specific meanings in association with dance. I've also studied qigong, a Chinese form of physical and mental training like tai chi or yoga, for about six years."

Robertson was born in Waikoikoi, grew up on a Middlemarch sheep station and moved to Dunedin in 2001.

An autodidactic artist, she has been painting full-time since 2003.

"It's the only proper job I've ever had. I've done ... work to pay the bills, but I've always struggled with it."

The exhibition will baptise a new art gallery in the Robert Lawson-designed Mornington Presbyterian Church, which owners Leigh Overton and Ruth Manning began restoring last year.

See it

"Impassioned Eye" opens at the former Mornington Presbyterian Church, 33 Brunel St, Mornington, at 5.30pm on October 29.

Other viewing times by appointment.

Robertson will be in residence between 2pm and 4pm on November 1, 2, 3 and 5.