Cristina Metelli
DEEP CONNECTIONS
March 23 - April 28, 2024
Gallery 1
Exhibition Launch Saturday April 13 at 3-5pm
IN CONVERSATION - WITH CRISTINA METELLI & SERA WATERS APRIL 4 AT 6.30-7.30PM
Deep Connections is a new body of work by Cristina Metelli, featuring paintings inspired by the natural landscape.
Cristina is exploring subjects relating to the perception of spirit of place and a sense of belonging, generated through an emotional and sensorial response to nature and the way in which people can be affected by it.
The exhibition features 3 large, fully-abstract paintings, expressing Cristina's subconscious connection to place, and multiple smaller, more representational works, which capture her fascination with plants, such as banksias, gumtrees and ferns, that she encounters while walking.
This work has been made in response to Cristina's walks in the Adelaide Hills, reminding her of happy childhood memories in the hills of northern Italy, and triggering feelings relating to family, belonging and emotional security. It is also about the healing powers of nature - the energy of trees, green fields, fresh air, and sunlight, which can clear our minds and lift our hearts.
Cristina Metelli, Stirling Garden, 2024, oil on canvas
Cristina Metelli, Bush at Woorabinda, 2024, oil on canvas
BIO
Cristina Metelli is a contemporary artist based in Adelaide, South Australia.
Born in Milan, Italy, Cristina studied at art school as a teenager, before immigrating to Adelaide, where she continued her artistic education, earning a Bachelor Degree in Visual Art (First Class Honours) from Adelaide Central School of Art.
Her art practice, which was originally based on painting and sculpture, has in recent years shifted its focus to abstract paintings inspired by the natural landscape, finding inspiration in the beauty and diversity of nature. Her art delves into the profound connection between human lives and the natural landscape, exploring themes of belonging, spirit of place, and Nature's vulnerability. By merging her passion for natural sciences and psychology, she investigates how people can be positively affected by their interactions with nature.
Walking and spending time in nature, feeling connected to the land and everything in it, gives Cristina her source of inspiration, which she channels into expressive paintings back in her studio. Through an intuitive process and gestural paint applications, she depicts the feelings experienced in the natural landscape, using the material qualities of paint.
Since 2003 she has been regularly exhibiting in art galleries in South Australia and interstate. Amongst other achievements, Cristina's light-projection work 'Within The Landscape' was featured in the 2022 Illuminate Adelaide Festival; she was winner of the AGES Art Prize 2021/22, QLD; she has also been a three-time finalist in the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, South Australian Museum, and three-times finalist in the Heysen Art Prize, Hahndorf Academy, SA.