The Rim, the rim of our brittle
and disintegrating world … together with the sequence The
Rim and beyond … is pivotal to the art of Elizabeth Durack. A
continuum of work from the imaginative 'out of mind' stream,
(as distinct from the graphic 'out of sight' stream),
The Rim … bridges all that came before and all that
came after.
Years before the degradation in Australia’s
remote communities was publicly confronted and acknowledged Rim
... paintings reflected the reality of misguided, if
well-intentioned, officially sanctioned policies.
Rim ...
paintings emerged — or rather, were first named and identified
— soon after an extended period away from Australia and during a
time of momentous social and political upheaval. The series consists
of a great many paintings, in varying sizes and mediums, produced
over a period of some 22 years. Subject matter is enigmatic and
disturbing, reflecting the times, differing views and
ideologies.
Initially sparked by contentious social and
economic changes affecting Australia’s indigenous people, Rim
... paintings went on to encompass calamity in any form in
the world at large. Triggers that stimulated the artist were:
collision, failed rescue, attempted or ill-fated escape, ineffectual
human activity; and, significantly, bridges collapsing and
disintegrating into thin air … Works from the 1970s include titles
reminiscent of Goya’s Dream of Reason produces Fury. Some,
for example, The Dream, the recurrent dream of Eldorado
contain familiar (Australian) subject matter; while others, Crossings
are made alone and encumbered evoke distant lands. Winged
Victory, an apocalyptic work of 1993, inspired by an act of
terrible retribution is sardonic and insightful comment on
communities and nations pushed to
extremities.
*
Some time around mid 1994 Rim ... paintings
gave way to works of a subtly different kind. The artist considered
them — said she was aiming for — pure shape and form and she used
the word 'morphological' for the new works.
Pure form, being
anything but simple, Elizabeth Durack’s morphological works are
inherently highly complex. They contain subliminal impressions and
images imprinted at an early age from sighting original
masterpieces by artists unknown in vast prehistoric Kimberley caves. Indisputably they also contain the style, the vision and the intellect
of a mature contemporary individual.
Relatively few in number,
the morphological works stand as the immediate successors of The
Rim and beyond … And in turn, they are true
harbingers of The Art of Eddie Burrup.
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