Braemar Gallery is hosting two exhibitions from January 21.
The Land of Dreams shows the work of Mountains-based artist Suzie Salisbury.
Inspired by dreams and memories, Salisbury's work captures the magic and wonder of childhood.
The paintings offer an innovative view into fairytales, dreams and imaginative spaces where toys and abandoned buildings are brought to life. The work is unique and obviously very personal, however universal themes emerge through this self expression.
Suzie began her career as a press photographer before moving to Sydney where she photographed for magazines, a fashion and advertising studio and spent several years as gallery photographer for the Art Gallery of NSW.
It has been a life-long desire of hers to leave her job and go to art school to become an artist and this is exactly what she has done, recently graduating with a Bachelor of Visual Arts. This is her first solo show.
The second exhibition is of work by French artist recently settled in the Blue Mountains, Sebastien Gueydon.
From stone age... is a reflection of the intrinsic power of human beings. Borrowing from primitive sculptures and tools, the carved stones capture the struggle between fragility and roughness. The sculptor uses his strength to turn stone to harmonious art at the risk of irreversible destruction. The delicate balance between violence and care for the stone is a mirror of the way human beings use power to make the world a better place. Around the sculptures, sketches of the human body echo the message of the stones.
This exhibition is an invitation to reflect on our deep nature. Gueydon's art can be characterised by a quest for simplicity and strength.
His preferred exercise is sketching, as it forces the artist to record just the essential. For Gueydon, the process of making an art work is as important as the final result. While in the flow, the body is tuned with the tools and materials at hand to feed the creative process. On good days, an art work unrolls almost effortlessly to the greatest joy of the artist. Animations showing the creation of his sketches testify how this process can be simple and enjoyable. These videos can seen on his instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/rawartmaker/.