Sarah Mufford

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2024 - Finalist

_{[Image courtesy of the artist]}

Artist Statement

I have been using the grid system of square and semi-circle as an organising principle for my geometric abstractions for some time. Intertwined is the need to explore figure/ground hierarchies and processes of embedding, overlay and transparency/opacity.  

Inspired by the colours and textile designs in South Asia, Leheriya alludes to a type of Rajasthani woven fabric and forms part of a new body of work that explores colour and optical perception. I employ labour-intensive, repetitive methods of working using a compass, ruler, paint and graphite which become both aids to and of meditation. 

It’s been eight years since I travelled through India, Iran and southern Spain, but only now am I beginning to get close to those wondrous feelings of sitting on the cold, tiled floor of a Masjid in Esfahan where pattern descends, envelops and overwhelms.