Lesley Dickman
My work begins with a concept or idea that I sense opens a wellspring of visual possibilities and questioning of social constructs. Using techniques to develop structure, form and dimension, I journey through a process of connection and response to the world that I am creating. This world seems to be in a continual state of flux, of metamorphous, an invention then reinvention as I search for that illusive image that gives power and strength to the concept, and opens the doors to questioning social values.
My influences are drawn from the German Expressionist movement of the forties and later the large figurative painters such as Anselm Keifer and George Baselitz in the eighties. In his large monumentally artworks Keifer used materials such as lead, straw, found objects, wood, and sand to name a few, and combined historical references that confronted a dark German history.
Often the materials themselves are a guide to the artwork I make. The softness of fabric , the embedded history in bones, the chemistry of salt, or the immediacy of being able to change the image with paint or pastel are all part of the physical and the spiritual essence that bring the artwork to life.
Click here for artwork by Lesley Dickman
Exhibitions at Tacit include
2023 Haunted Beauty
Empty rooms, empty walls
Empty buildings, empty halls
Empty spaces, deserted buildings, old machinery, a chair left behind in a vacated house, a bath-tub, an old lime quarry, silos, textures, polyester curtains, pealing paint, vacant factories, a reminder of manual labour now replaced by technology, the imagined energy as men and women had vision and creative purpose, and then closure: a slow dismantling inhabited now by a haunting beauty, memories, structures that still stand proudly defying progress until the very last breath.
2023 Flight
Flight expresses my continuing interest in the figure in motion as it intersects with a study of early painters such as the 18th century artist Goya and the 16th century artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. There are elements in some works of what I call 'in the moment', seen when a quizzical glance is exchanged between figures passing by, a humorous moment such as a bird landing on a head, a conversation between friends or an elevation in dance that can only be captured at a fleeting moment. Unlike the felt response to abstract art, working with the figure nearly always includes a narrative. Flight leaves the narrative open to interpretation, allowing the audience free to create their own stories.
Revisiting artists such as Goya and Bruegel with a feast of amazing figurative narratives extracted from the barbaric cruelty of war, historic biblical narratives and social setting of the times was an encouraging resource and inspiration. Of particular interest were the beautiful colour relationships, figures in pastel colour often emerging out of darkness. Using fast drying acrylic paint on canvas as the medium allowed me to work quickly. Gestural brushstrokes and the layering of paint helped bring the paintings to life.'
2022 Still Life/Food for Thought
Thrown into the sobering reality of Covid-19 in early March 2020, Lesley Dickman seized the opportunity for self-reflection and the development of a new direction in her art practise as an antidote to obsessing with the dispiriting and disruptive nature caused by the pandemic of 2020. She attempted to counterbalance the perceived danger of Covid-19 as she tried to reset her narrative from the angst-ridden past works to a place of optimism, a celebration of life and an embodiment of hope in the face of adversity.
2018 Salt & The Dress 3
Salt is part of our everyday language: salinity, desalination and rising sea levels are all associations which are tangible and immediate. The saltworks in the Geelong area, with their salt heaps and salt ponds, provided a rich visual resource for exploring these associations. Juxtaposed against this background are personal memories of fabric and the process of dressmaking.
This dialogue between Salt & the Dress provides the platform to explore our relationship to nature and our social constructs.
2017 Yarra Dreamscapes
Surrounded by space and light and a sense of freedom are vivid memories of my childhood living in the Yarra Valley. My recent paintings entitled Valley Dreamscapes are a reflection of images from past and present, of the now where large areas of land is given over to grapevines for wine production, of tents and constructions for entertainment, bed and breakfasts along with the remnants of the old lime quarry waiting to be converted into a suburb. I grew up in an era when we and our dogs roamed freely, our time enriched by fresh air and nature.
2014 Who Defines Me
Who Defines Me? is a question to the viewer. It questions the notion that a woman can be easily defined by their external appearance. Representing females in varying guises and environments, and by not presenting them in a stereotypical gender mould allows space for the viewer to invent their own narrative and pose to and of themselves ‘Who Defines Me?
Selected exhibitions
solo
2024 Haunted Beauty - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2023 Flight - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2022 Still Life/Food for Thought - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2021 Homage to Small Girls - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2019 Heartbeat - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2018 Salt & The Dress 3 - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2017 Yarra Dreamscapes - Tacit Art, Melbourne
Artefacts, Linden Gate Gallery - Yarra Glen
2014 Who Defines Me - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2013 Sandpit - Walker St Gallery, Dandenong
2012 Salt & The Dress - Swan Hill Regional Gallery
2011 Salt & The Dress - Walker St Gallery
2010 Salt & The Dress - Cambridge St Gallery, Melbourne
2008 Salt & the Dress - Guildford Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2006 Pathways - Goya Gallery, Melbourne
2003 Slow Motion - Goya Gallery, Melbourne
2000 Recent Works - Goya Gallery
group
2023 Artbox - Tacit Art, Melbourne
Bound Pigment: Celebrating Paint - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2022 TACIT Still Life Prize - Tacit Art, Melbourne
Costume - Tacit Art, Melbourne
SUBSTRATE 22 - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2021 TACIT Still Life Prize - Tacit Art, Melbourne
Woollahra 9 x 5 Art Prize - Sydney
Costume - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2020 Woollahra 9 x 5 Art Prize
20[2020] - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2019 SALTBody - Arts Mildura
2018 Wyndham Art Prize - Melbourne
Line - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2016 9 x 5 - Walker St Gallery, Dandenong
2014 Fragile Couture - Melbourne Fashion Festival
Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition
2013 9 x 5 - Walker St Gallery
She - Walker St Gallery
2011 Salt & the Dress - Three Storeys Gallery, Healesville
2004 John Leslie Art Prize - Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale