Damien Minton Gallery

Painted upon the flattened shadowlike form of found cans and tobacco tins is a bucolic scene of trees and fields, flowers and chops, or fetching women peaking out from behind their burkhas. Sarah de Teliga’s new exhibition takes the viewer on a gentle tour of a world that unfolds through texture, context, seasons and landscapes.

Winter mountains and moss covered trees that at first appear to give up their postcard beauty a little too easily, slyly draw one in to see the playful use of impossibly tinted shadows, raked backgrounds and the cranked up European green which continues to dazzle the Antipodeans eye.

The works are morsels; moments that are shared and divided, those that are on the flattened cans follow the lead of the irregular lines and give the works an unpredictable liveliness that de Teliga mines with humour. The undulating folds of a medieval northern dress are serenaded from the street-flattened tobacco tin.

De Teliga’s larger works, which are still conveniently suitcase-sized, bring a sense of time to her work. Shadows stretch languidly from the upright trees, tides swirl around submerged rocks and standing stones remain immoveable while the grass grows long around them. There is an implicit absence of figures in these landscapes which puts the viewer in the position of the artist, meditating a scene that unfolds in front of them, sometimes there are tantalising paths leading towards the sea, following a fence or disappearing through a mountainous gap. These works celebrate the private moment in a marvellous contemplative way that invites an answering visceral response.

Review by Victoria Hobday

See more here:

http://storefrontwindows.blogspot.com/2010/11/sarah-de-teliga-at-home-crushed-cans.html

http://www.theparisblog.com/a-paris-painter-preps/

Solo Exhibitions

2010Damien Minton Gallery, Redfern- At Home2009Can Can- Helen Stephens Gallery, Sydney2009Double trouble- Atelier Matussiere, Paris2008Objets Tranquilles- Helen Stephens Gallery, Sydney2006New Works- Time Olsen Gallery, Sydney2005Private View- England & Co., London2000Feather- Talbot Rd, London1999Folded Books- Talbot Rd, London

Group Exhibitions and Commissions

201036 Paintings for- Blue Crest Capital, London2008Exhibition curated by Matthew Rose- 13 Rue du Cherche Midi, Paris2008Summer exhibition- England & Co., London2006Wynne finalist- AGNSW, Sydney2004Let There Be Light exhibition- London2004Oval Garden- Mackay, London2002Spiral Garden for Morrison, London2000Artist in residence- Montana group, London

Sarah de Teliga is represented in the National Gallery of Australia and various other public and private collections.