Low Chroma
Eliza Glyn
Low Chroma is a world of echoes. It is a dimension that exists after you leave the classification
of landscape behind. The forms remember that once they were part of a landscape; and that
landscape has transformed itself to an idea. The recognizable forms are leftover vapors from
land shapes observed here in Dunedin. The visual mood and colour draws on memories of
science fiction worlds seen in films and television shows from my childhood (Total Recall, Star
Trek, Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey.) The worlds also suggest a link with the
imagined interior realms of video games like Tetris and PacMan. Ultimately, there is a collision
of dreamscape and memory that joins with my current observations on the way humans divide
and alter Land. Eliza Glyn 2021
runs to June 15
Opening Night
"Low Chroma", Eliza Glyn
(Olga Gallery)
The title of "Low Chroma", Eliza Glyn’s exhibition at Olga, refers to the severely muted palette used in the works. Created from multiple thin layers of earthy-toned oils on board, the images seem to shift in and out of the bare wood’s colour and texture. The chroma (colour saturation) is reduced to a bare minimum, and the simple geometric forms of the work seem to float as if islands adrift on a misty sea.
This analogy is telling, in that the forms have been reduced to bare essentials from the world of landscape painting. The artist’s intention is to use natural representations, but to pare them of their intrinsic qualities, thus rendering them as simplified backdrops, reminiscent of the blocky forms of early video games. The shapes have become simple geometric abstracts, and composition has taken over from naturalistic identity as a main source of the paintings’ interest. The resulting works lie pleasingly along an axis between Simon Kaan’s tranquil seascapes and Colin McCahon’s bold hillsides. In many of the works, the elements retain much of their landscape origins, and it is these works which seem to hold most interest, as the viewer is torn between the two extremes of representation and abstraction. Coupled with the minimal colours, the images become thought experiments for painter and viewer alike. James Dignan, Otago Daily Times, June 3 2021