Exhibitions
The Empty Chair
Empty Chair series - The Goodbye
Sharon Roberts
The Empty Chair - on reflection
Sunday 14 July 2019
The following blog was written after the first showing of The Empty Chair in 2015. As I write this note, all is in readiness for it to be revisited in 2019. The exhibition comprises a majority of paintings from the first exhibition, a selection of works from the same period, and a new series of small watercolours. The Empty Chair opens at Injune Creek Gallery in south-west Queensland on Friday 2nd August 2019.
Monday 28 September 2015
Seated in the Watermall Cafe, coffee at hand, I considered the first day of The Empty Chair exhibition at Vera Wade Gallery. A quiet day of contemplation and thought. My first time to sit, view and consider the works together as a cohesive unit.
The paintings are somehow different when hung together. Each informing the other and adding to their stories. Synergistically, they become more together than the sum of their parts; moving beyond being a grouped collection they become, in a sense, another artwork.
Tim Roberts, my son and co-collaborator of the Audible Chroma project, collated a gallery soundtrack for the Empty Chair exhibition which included his own compositions and created a sense of the music hovering in the space; quieting and gently uplifting the spirit.
Vera Wade Gallery is downstairs at the nationally heritage listed St Andrews Uniting Church on the corner of Ann and Creek Streets, Brisbane City. With its sweeping arches, glass tiled ceiling, and glimpses of the underlying structure of the building, the gallery space is filled with airy sense of light creating an ambience which invites reflection and contemplation of the artworks.
As I write now, the paintings have been packed away and I consider the outcomes. How do we measure the success of an exhibition? Some would say we measure it by the number of sales, or viewers, or connections and opportunities. While these aspects of exhibiting assist artists to continue to pursue their arts practices; the response of viewers has also been a wonderfully encouraging aspect of The Empty Chair. We all experience grief and loss, and I have experienced a connection with people, many of whom I had never met before. As they have entered into my experience outworked and expressed in the paintings, they have been moved, and they have shared with me something of their experience, their stories, their faith. What a blessing this exhibition has been. If you were able to attend, thank you.
Some images and soundtrack can be found here:
http://sharonrobertsart.com.au/Exhibitions/Pages/The_Empty_Chair.html
To be informed on facebook of Sharon’s and Tim’s upcoming events we have an AudibleChroma facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Audible-Chroma-116949385009669/timeline
Exhibitions at Vera Wade Gallery change on a regular basis. To be added to their email list and informed of upcoming exhibitions, you can join “Friends of Vera Wade” at the Vera Wade Gallery website.