An exhibition of new paintings by Bosco Sodi that demonstrates the artist’s ongoing exploration of transformative processes.
‘It’s about embracing the accident, embracing the non-control, embracing the passing of time and working with organic materials.’
In this new series of relief paintings, Sodi introduces, for the first time, a stark contrast between darkness and light, creating a dialogue between opposing forces. Sodi combines black and white pigments with glue and organic material, such as sawdust or natural fibres, introducing an element of impurity. His relationship with these crude materials draws from wabi-sabi, a Japanese aesthetic philosophy that embraces imperfection and reveres natural authenticity above all.
The paintings are the outcome of an intensively physical process in which experimentation and chance play an important role. Laying the canvas horizontally, Sodi sculpturally layers his paint mixture by hand over several days, stopping at the first signs of cracking. He then gives the process over to time and the elements, as the work dries and fissures form across its surface.
The exhibition is punctuated by free standing sculptures made from hand-made bricks created at Casa Wabi using local clay and fired in rustic kilns. Each kiln burns differently, which results in variations in the texture and colour of the individual bricks.