nothing — a drift: Doug Hall and Rosslynd Piggott

Sarah Scout Presents is delighted to announce nothing — a drift, an exhibition of work by Doug Hall and Rosslynd Piggott that has evolved from conversations in and around their studios. Taking its starting point in shared interests and entanglements with Japanese culture, nothing — a drift comprises a suite of collage paintings by Hall and a single painting Long flower light and cumulonimbus edge by Piggott.

Works by both artists gesture towards the fleeting and impermanent yet they are deeply personal, and they demand quiet, slow contemplation. Although Long flower light and cumulonimbus edge may resemble abstraction, it in fact describes and pictures actual space, based on the artist's deep observation of natural forms and phenomena. Piggott has referred to her recent paintings as a protest against the busy, delirious structures and systems that define and confine our daily lives, and her own acts of daily attentiveness are reflected in the work.

Hall's work is underpinned by his deep knowledge of art and art history, however it's the subjective and instinctual that resonates most keenly. Attuned to both Japanese Zen Buddhist philosophies as well as the seemingly random or disposable encounters of discarded photographs and objects, Hall's is a practice that is both deadly serious and mindfully and discreetly absurd. The works presented in nothing — a drift comprise deftly painted grounds, interspersed by moments of text, symbols and found images that drift back and forth between influence, source and subject.

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Doug Hall AM is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. In 1973, working under Bea Maddock and Allan Mitelman, he was awarded the National Gallery of Victoria Trustees’ Award for Initial Year Printmaking. He pursued a career in museums and continued to make work intermittently but has not previously exhibited. Works for this exhibition have been made over the past three years; their scale defined by Hall’s studio space – his dining table in Collingwood.

Rosslynd Piggott is one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists. Her work explores the material thresholds of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, glasswork and installation, and is influenced greatly by time spent collaborating with artisans and master craftspeople in Japan, Italy and France. Throughout her career, Piggott has explored the interstitial and generative spaces between the personal and universal, ancient and contemporary, local and global.

Hall and Piggott have known each other for more than 30 years and their deep interest in Japanese art and culture remains inseparable in their friendship.

Rosslynd Piggott appears courtesy of Sutton Gallery, Melbourne