Silent Light: paintings by Tohby Riddle
“When transfigured by light, an everyday moment can seem
permeated with deeper meaning and mystery.“
My first solo show of paintings is to be held at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre (Katoomba NSW) from 15 January – 27 February 2022. Opening night will be on Friday 21 January 6–8 pm.
This is the full Exhibition Statement:
“This exhibition presents small, simply stated paintings depicting commonplace scenes that often pass unnoticed. The subjects are largely derived from the artist’s long-term observations, day and night, of locations in Katoomba. When transfigured by light, an everyday moment can seem permeated with deeper meaning and mystery – perhaps even hinting at a reality greater than we habitually perceive.
The paintings in Silent Light observe these moments, illuminated by sunlight or lamplight, not just for their quiet drama but for their surprising beauty too. They invite the viewer to look twice or think again about the world they live in. In doing so, they might be considered analogous to traditional Japanese haiku where, to use the words of Lucien Stryk (1985), in a moment ‘snatched from time’s flow’ the eternal might be ‘wrested from the phenomenal world’.”
