THE ODYSSEY, is Sydney-based artist Yvette Swan’s first solo exhibition with Art Galleries Schubert. Already acclaimed interstate for her highly individual approach to both the technical and metaphysical aspects of painting, Yvette Swan attempts to ‘stretch the accepted boundaries’ even further in these new works.

“Life is a playground where we exist to learn, to create and to help each other. Many challenges are faced but ultimately we are all able to move through them and develop as spiritual beings”.

Y. Swan

THE ODYSSEY is a collection of vibrant, abstract paintings which signify the many and varied journeys undertaken along the path to this realisation. Her canvases are the landscapes of these journeys but they are not represented literally. Yvette creates her impact on an emotional and sensory level, the viewer is compelled to respond spontaneously to the core truth in each work.

Exuberantly coloured mazes are flanked by densely painted frames or thickly embossed lines which seek to contain their essence and isolate them from the surrounding, sumptuously textured grounds. However, an interaction is inevitable. Symbolising the tenacity of life itself, pigment seeps down, permeating the borders and drips into the spaces beyond. Glimpses of another reality are evidenced in the seemingly random gestural markings and shapes which inhabit these areas.

A masterful mix of simplicity and sophistication, the paintings are powerful and compelling metaphors of the individual’s personal odyssey through the universal scheme of things. There is a wonderful sense that order will prevail amidst chaos.

“Through the use of titles and through the work itself, I am paying homage to beauty, discipline and persistence”.

Y. Swan

A Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Yvette Swan was a finalist in the Wynne Landscape Prize 2002 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and a finalist in the inaugural Metro 5 Gallery Art Prize 2003, Melbourne Victoria.

Jacqueline Houghton