OUT/ABOUT: Edwina White ‘A Beautiful Complication’

All the working (and non-working) mothers out there will appreciate the title of Edwina White’s most recent exhibition ‘A Beautiful Complication’. Finding out that she was pregnant after booking a solo exhibition on the other side of the world provided many challenges and fortunately just as much wonderful inspiration.

The Sydney-born, now New York based artist works primarily with paper and her compositions are the perfect balance of quirky collage and beautifully realized drawing. White’s ability to create plausible characters in her work has made her popular with regular contributions in high profile publications The New York Times, Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair and our own Sydney Morning Herald. Actually, many of the enchanting creatures you will find in this exhibition began their life as illustrations for news stories.

There is however a lovely autobiographical narrative that weaves through the work, it speaks of a life spent observing the eccentricities of life in a big city, of actors trying for their big breaks, of fabulous parties and couples courting. The genesis of the whimsical abstract works; so delicate and pretty, were created when she found out she was having her gorgeous daughter Frances but couldn’t tell anyone her exciting news.

Edwina is also celebrating the release of ‘Sembene’ at the Sydney Film Festival, a documentary on Ousmane Sembene the ‘father of African cinema’. ‘Sembene’ was an ambitious animation project many years in the making and gives us the opportunity to see her delightful drawings brought to life.

Edwina White ‘A Beautiful Complication’
Olsen Irwin Gallery
63 Jersey Road
Woollahra 2025 NSW
Monday: 12-5
Tuesday-Friday: 10-6
Saturday: 10-5
Sunday: 12-5
Until 28th June 2015

Credits: Words by Katrina Arent
Images courtesy of the artist Edwina White and Olsen Irwin Gallery