Headland: Woman in a Landscape

Headland: Woman in a Landscape: consists of four large-scale head canvases, three symbol-laden tree paintings, and a group of ’tree-cuts’. The work invites the viewer to indulge in a game of symbolic decoding in order to reveal a woman’s journey through the complex landscape of today.

The viewer is confronted by dramatic head paintings executed with fresco-like washes in the artist’s distinctive colourways. This is an arena of observation, where actions, choices and consequences are made visible. Each woman’s psychological thought process is openly displayed - an x-ray of internal activity. Aircraft, ammunition, cars and ships are some of the associative imagery entwined within the mindscapes, a reference to the masculine power symbols that have been absorbed into female identity. Turbines, propellers and liberty stars allude to the driving cycle of life. Birds of prey, wolvine dogs, space capsules, fairground carousels, oceanic landscapes and cloudlike islands are presented as symbols of action or indecision, progress or inertia. The bold compositional dynamics work in contrast to the slow burn of the content, keeping the eye and mind in a constant state of flux.

Lowe’s Tree canvases – ‘Grace,’ ‘Abundance’ and ‘Inertia’ – return to the artist’s interest in the Tree of Life. ’Grace’ spans the metaphorical paths that guide a woman’s life journey. Each branch, named after a painting in the series, presents symbolic choices, their connotations and consequences. The result is a map of images and symbols which flow from place to place. ’Abundance’ with its cortex-like appearance, forms branches that hold positive and progressive thoughts, leading to a sense of well-being and security. ‘Inertia’ mirrors the shape of the ominous Spade playing card, referencing the dysfunctional drives that can lead to mental stagnation.