November 9th – December 22nd, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bradley Ertaskiran is pleased to present Surrender, <\/em>a solo exhibition by Preston Pavlis featuring a monumental presentation of two-sided artworks comprised of tender figurative oil paintings on one side and intricate hand-crafted quilts on the other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pavlis conveys his painted subjects through complex gazes rendered in loose, expressive brushstrokes and vibrant backdrops. One imposing figure set against a luminous turquoise background clenches in pain or exaltation, his body turned away from us. In another, a young girl dressed in a lavish purple dress offers a defiant, piercing stare. One painting shows a reclining couple relishing in the serene presence of each other\u2019s company, their shoulders turned inwards as if our presence would interrupt the sweet moment. Pavlis\u2019 array of figures, in their varying contemplative states, look outwards and inwards, all beyond our eyeline, as though their attention were turned towards another painting. Among the suspended tableaus, some figures acknowledge the viewer, while others need not return our gaze; they have each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pavlis\u2019 gestural style carries onto the raw embroidered quilt supporting each artwork. Fringed, hand-sewn stitches poke through the painting\u2019s surface, offering an illustrative and collaged quality to the scenes. On the rear, patches of manipulated fabrics\u2014imprinted floral motifs on crushed velvet, for example\u2014replicate the paintings\u2019 characteristic blotted brushstrokes. Pavlis\u2019 painting-textile hybrids are guided by intuition; the colours and textures of the fabric inspire the making of one side, while poetic instinct guides the other. Both sides can be seen at once, fabric and paint spilling over from one scene to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contemporary artists have long revitalized traditional craft practices and Pavlis draws on a legacy of quilting \u2014 rooted in making and bonding, in skin-to-skin contact. Pieces of found leather, velvet, denim, and quotidian fabrics are laboriously taken apart, transformed, and then pieced back together into something new. Pavlis\u2019 choice of materials is purposeful and poignant; these clothes were once used and worn, a part of someone\u2019s daily life, maybe loved but then discarded, swathing one body and now remade by another. This care is a testament to the artist\u2019s ongoing commitment to translating human connection\u2014desire, beauty, sorrow, longing\u2014into moving, tangible means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n