Terri Brooks, new abstract oil paintings

Exploring the physicality of paint and surface textures, the latest body of works, Found Marks, continues Terri Brook’s formal investigation of natural mark making. With a leanness of technique and an innate feeling for surface textures Brooks utilises her materials to produce rich and complex works that speak of creating art out of something humble and ordinary. Following a lineage of artists attracted to marks in nature - including Whistler, Pollock, Tuckson and Mondrian, ‘ a tradition equating marks in nature and marks made by an artist which goes back to Leonardo and his blotchy wall.’1

Extending beyond the pure zones of white and black for which Brooks is most notable, Found Marks incorporates hues of red and yellow to an already deeply layered palette.
Many of her new works incorporate what the artist refers to as ‘paper blocks’ – a compressed paper support comprising newspaper layers – formed and cured to a hard block. This new element directly refers to Tony Tuckson’s early Newspaper paintings, while further suggesting the artist’s interest in the concept of ‘making do’. With a corrigated surface and ‘fat’ materiality, paint is allowed to pool and drawn lines navigate undulating terrains. These works also take on the physicality of the objects from which Brooks draws her inspiration – such as weathered corrugated iron walls or decaying road surfaces. With marks that are bold and honest and which obviously relish gesture, this concern takes precedence as the scale of Brook’s works increases.

Terri Brooks has had numerous solo shows since 1989 and has been selected as a finalist in the Fleurieu Art Prize, and the Alice Prize. She has been awarded BP Acquisitive Awards, an Australia Council Grant and the Pat Corrigan Artists Grant. Her work is in the Albert Tucker Collection, Macquarie Bank, Westpac Bank, many other corporate collections, as well as numerous private collections in Australia, the United States, the Netherlands and England.

(Footnotes)
1 Auping.Michael, Elderfield. John, & Sontag. Susan, (1995). Howard Hodgkin paintings, The Fort
Worth Art Association. Hodgkin letter. Page 75,76.