DELIQUESCENT LIGHT
Solo exhibition
11th Feb - 20th Feb 2021
Curatorial and Co, Studio 1/175 Cleveland street, Redfern, NSW, Australia.
With fourteen colour-field mixed media artworks, a soundtrack created by the artist himself, two immersive videos, plus a hand-painted take-home limited edition transparent vinyl, Daniel O'Toole’s Deliquescent Light is a multi-sensory experience at Curatorial + Co's Redfern warehouse, gallery.
Deliquescent Light is a series that plays on the relationship between sunlight and liquid, capturing the resulting light refraction firstly as video works, which consequently inform the paintings. Various light-altering materials are used to affect visual perception and re-animate the static image.
Daniel begins his practice by working with video and sound to create a moving painting. “These stills are re-interpreted as paintings, the soundtracks made for these types of videos, therefore, have an intrinsic link to the images," he adds. "I hope that the sounds feel well matched to the paintings and evoke an otherworldly atmosphere to make the experience of colour even more immersive."
Sound is a key element of the artist's practice, as his experience with synaesthesia allows him to see music in flashes of colour. "I seemed to have a stronger connection with synaesthesia as a child, but I still have unusual flashes of colour that enter my mind's eye with certain sounds and frequencies," he reveals. "I think mostly though I like to use my imagination and intuit the relationships between colours and sounds to form my own audio-visual language."
The translation into painting is a drawn-out process that involves weeks of video and sound components. Experimentation with light and space follows, as does a recent dabble with dye sublimation prints of aluminium and 'digital paintings'. These explorations into method and technique can be seen throughout Deliquescent Light; the final result both luminous and confusing.
O’Toole says ‘In a culture immersed in a digital dialogue, the value of images is in quick decline. the time for consideration is being eroded by an insatiable appetite for endorphins. The refraction effect that is explored in my painting and video is intended to draw attention to the time it takes for light to enter and return from the space within the frame. Deliberately slowing down the viewing pace, it is an invitation to physically interact with distilled natural phenomena.’
Article by Emma-Kate Wilson
Photos by Anne Graham
Deliquescent light is an exhibition soundtrack intended to accompany the experience of viewing colour field paintings that were exhibited on 11/2/21 in Sydney at Curatorial and co Gallery.
A texturally rich narrative of emotive movements unfolds with unexpected twists and turns, with euphoric and joyful jaunts like Cellophane, the dystopian soundscape of Molten Sky, and short noise-based textural interludes like Marble and Portals.
The album is a collection of sound works that range from ambient pieces that have been used as the soundtracks for video works to more rhythmic tracks featuring musicians Plutonic Lab (Overgrown statues) and Nick Marty (Sidelines) on percussion/Drums.
Sorcha Albuquerque plays guitar on Cellophane, and Stephanie Reed plays Nyckelharpa on Overgrown statues.
Deliquescent light features, a mix of samples, vintage synths (Yamaha CS5, Minimoog Model D, Mini Korg 700) a fender Rhodes, violin, flute and percussion. All keys/Synths, percussion, drum programming, violin parts and string arrangements by Daniel O’Toole.
