Full Exhibition Text:

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As Amber Bardell travels across the globe, they consider the temporary dwellings they have inhabited over the past few years. Searching for a feeling of home and struggling to find consistency, but always finding beauty. Home could be found in the trees, the leaves, and the sounds of the birds, although different in each place there are whispers of familiarity.

 

Bardell paints nature, in the form of abstract landscapes and decorative scenes of their spiritual connection to the earth. This exhibition includes mixed media paintings, unique monotype prints, and a selection of ceramic vessels. All of which reflect on experiences of making home, while also exploring new places in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Tasmania, and finally during a residency at Valencia Print Workshop. Much of this work has been used as a way to process events and memories, which is a natural inclination for the artist.

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"As I travelled I felt that the world became smaller: I had more access to it. But all the time I thought of home, where is home? Since leaving my inaugural home, the one I shared with my parents and siblings as a child, I have inhabited temporary spaces. Over time, a sense of restlessness grew within me: a longing to make a nest for myself and yet, I feel the pull to explore the opposite: to wander the globe.

 

Many people have opened their doors to me, for stays long and short over the past few years. A few times I was rewarded with the feeling of home, each time as a result of the people there, and received with much gratitude. Home is very much in people and their intention of home. Ultimately, for me, the most consistent thing I have is my creative practice, I take it with me wherever I go. Filling endless sketchbooks, and using the process to release my feelings. Within my practice I can find consistency and be at home, even when times are tumultuous."