In Paintings & Objects, Bechert is exploring the ability of art to provide moments of peace and relief for viewers in a world that is constantly in a state of flux, and often disarray. During turbulent times, abstract painting, indeed all art, can provide a haven, offering a unique way to navigate and express complex emotions. Painting can serve as a profound inquiry into our world, encouraging a form of sense-making that transcends conventional language. But perhaps a haven, the very concept of haven, is merely a step along the way, a place for brief respite or shelter before engaging with the world head on, again.
In recent years Bechert’s paintings have moved away from the distractions of narrative in favour of more formal elements such as the dynamics of colour and composition. References to collage, graphic arts, printed matter such as early 20th century cartoons, as well as pre-renaissance paintings that employ a similarly flat or non-illusionary picture plane, are recurring reference points in her practice. In addition to her large abstract paintings, the artist assembles found objects and hand-built ceramics into sculptures that underscore the sense of precariousness, fragility and inherent cultural memories found within the material of our daily lives.
BIO
Colin Martin is an artist and lecturer based in Dublin. He is the Head of the RHA School and lectures part time in the NCAD Media Department. He is a graduate of DIT and NCAD and works in the medium of painting and film. Recent solo exhibitions include Keyframe, Platform Arts, Belfast, 2014, Collection, City Assembly Building, Dublin, 2012, The Garden, curated by Kate Strain, Broadcast Gallery, DIT, Dublin, 2011, Cyclorama, Basic Space, Dublin. Recent group exhibitions include Surveille.e.s CCI Paris, curated by Nora Hickey,,House Taken Over, Private House, Belfast 2018 ,This is Not Architecture, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda 2017, Far From Me, Josef Fillip Gallery, Leipzig ,N.O.W.H.E.R.E.,Interview Room 11, Edinburgh 2016. He has received the Arts Council Visual Arts Bursary in 2015, 2012 and 2007
