GINA JONES Southern Lights
7 October 2010 - 4 December 2010
Born and based in New Zealand, Gina Jones combines her architectural career with her role as a contemporary artist to explore the notion of light and the perception of time. In order to exercise the greatest control over her artwork, Jones abandoned the canvas and the hand drawn line in favour of architectural materials. She deftly balances the inherent coldness of laser cut steel, glass or Perspex and even the New Zealand classic, corrugated iron with warm, softly changing light.
Jones creates vivid illuminations, replacing traditional paint with LED lights and canvas steel or aluminum reliefs. Her work has various strands but in more complex pieces a form or pattern is sandblasted on to Perspex, the sandblasted area then capturing and emitting light in much the same way as the diodes themselves. Jones has started to develop this technique by incorporating mirrored Perspex to create the illusion of a third dimension, the form and colours seemingly stretching for infinity into
the wall behind.
Jones often programmes the colour in her pieces to change over long periods time, almost defying conscious recognition. The works seem to suspend time, drawing the viewer into the space of the mesmerizing work and enforcing a protracted engagement with the work. As with the traditions of abstract painting, the foci of Gina's work is on time and space, as she aims to create a meaningful and intense viewing experience which consists of more than a single visual encounter.
Jones had a solo exhibition from December 2009 to February 2010 at public institution, The Wairarapa Museum of Art and History in Masterton, New Zealand. Prior to this honour, Jones exhibited in several solo and group shows throughout New Zealand and in the Melbourne Art Fair Australia and the Hong Kong International Art Fair, Art HK 10. She has been a finalist for several art prizes and received her Masters in Fine Arts at RMIT in 2005.
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