Katy Woodroffe

The Well

17 July — 28 July 2017

Lives and works in Hobart

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Represented by nanda\hobbs

American poet, Robert Frost, refers to the deceptive nature of the well in his poem For Once Then Something:

 

“Always wrong to the light, so never seeing, deeper down in the well than where the water gives me back in a shining surface picture…. One drop fell from a fern, and lo, a ripple shook whatever it was lay there at bottom, blurred it, blotted it out. What was that whiteness? Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something”.

 

The water well has been crucial to the survival of human life. Throughout history, communities have grown and thrived by our need for water—without water life fades, people move on, communities fracture and disperse. Metaphorically, the well has many guises—it has been used as a symbol to delve into self-reflection, exploring the notions of truth in all its contemporary smoke and mirror connotations. This theme of survival, and by extension an exploration and search for truth, is intrinsic to Woodroffe’s latest exhibition The Well.  Through her rich layered glazes, there is a referencing of her personal story and connection with the history of her home and landscape in Tasmania. 

 

Much of the imagery evolves out of the darkness of the well or, is it the darkness of the Islands history?  Colonialism—with its empire building and associated latter-day acceptance of past wrongs—effect much of the contemporary Tasmanian psyche. This was a land that was acquired by force, and an ancient history expunged from the colonial record. However, the true story of the Aboriginal people and their culture has survived, and through the works of artists like Woodroffe, the historical imbalance is addressed. 

 

Woodroffe’s recurrent motifs; butterflies, flowers, patterned china plates, goldfish, fruit, shells, morph into spheres of hope—an aesthetic that is synonymous with her highly regarded practice. The beautiful detritus from history lay motionless; suspended in the hauntingly dark abyss of the well. Each image—her own Wunderkammer of collected memories, objects and history—each symbol and motif finely detailed, representative of tangible objects and distinct stories collected along journeys travelling the world. Objects are layered like wallpaper, and dinner plates are stitched together creating a narrative patchwork quilt; referencing the layering of truth and the re-telling her story and history of her island home. 

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Woodroffe has created access to another world, allowing us to enter a dreamscape of histories and tales from our past. It is a place where the truth lies at the bottom of a well.

 

 

Joey Hespe

June 2017

\ Exhibition featured works

Katy Woodroffe

Allure of the Supermoon

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

Katy Woodroffe

Catching the Moonlight

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

Katy Woodroffe

Celebrating the Full Moon

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

Dream Catcher

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 50x50cm

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

Family Secrets

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 50x50cm

Katy Woodroffe

Festival of the Eight Moons

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

Flying over the Threshold

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

Katy Woodroffe

Harvest of Pearls

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

High Tide

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 100x100cm

Katy Woodroffe

How I would like to have wings

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 50x50cm

Katy Woodroffe

I think the water remembered me

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

Illuminated Beauty

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 50x50cm

Katy Woodroffe

Listening to the Wind

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 50x50cm

Katy Woodroffe

Low Tide

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 100x100cm

Katy Woodroffe

Memory Pool - A detour through my childhood

2016 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 140x140cm

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

Once only and then in a dream

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

Katy Woodroffe

One by one they carried the white moon upward

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 147x147cm

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

Out of the Darkness

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

Ritual of the New Moon

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

SOLD

Katy Woodroffe

Stories by Moonlight

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 50x50cm

Katy Woodroffe

Wheel of Good Fortune

2017 \ Acrylic and ground pigment on paper \ 150x150cm

Katy Woodroffe

\ Frame example

Katy Woodroffe

\ Installation photo 1

Katy Woodroffe

\ Installation photo 2

Katy Woodroffe

\ Installation photo 3

\ Other exhibitions

Jun Chen

RED LAND

24 September — 19 October 2024

OTHER WORLDS

Group Exhibition

3 September — 21 September 2024

Suzanne Archer

Winds of change and sands of time

12 August — 31 August 2024

Contact Us

to find out more about The Well.

12 - 14 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm Saturday, 11am - 4pm Closed Public Holidays (and Easter Saturday)