Paintings & Embroideries
26 February – 15 March 2015

Leon Fernandes

Paintings & Embroideries is divided between urban hieroglyphic paintings on board and Asian-inspired embroidered works. In the hieroglyphic paintings, Fernandes takes a more traditional approach where the underpainting structurally holds and relates to the painted surface, textures, layers and colours. The resulting paintings are bold, weathered urban icons:  straightforward and masculine.

The embroidered works are a side-step where the underpainting now relates to a very different surface layer – an almost foreign one in the painting arena – machine-based embroidered stitching.  These works are based on Chinese and Japanese woodblock designs and are delicately under-painted before being machine stitched. The colour choice is very specific and they resonate with harmony, femininity and lightness.

Leon is well travelled and finds much inspiration from the blank surfaces discovered in open and beautiful spaces: murals on walls overlooking the Annapurna Ranges, paintings on reconfigured driveways in Laos. His most recent focus has shifted to his local environment in Sydney contrasting an external urban environment with the softer spaces we inhabit inside our homes.

Paintings 10 x 8 inches (28 x 23cm with frame) – $295
Embroideries 8 x 10 inches (23 x 28cm with frame) – $350