Not All Is Lost
AIRSPACE Projects
9.10.25 - 01.11.25

Devastating bushfires and floods followed by a global pandemic have made us more aware of the precariousness of nature and life. Just when we think all is lost, the black charred forests begin to sprout new shoots, bright colours emerge and hope is restored.

In ‘Not All Is Lost’, Ariella Friend has created a new body of work out of the materials found in her studio. Scrunched paper, layers of hot melt, left over paint peeled back from paint palettes, glitter, varnish and pieces of found timber have all been combined in unconventional ways to produce works that challenge what constitutes an abstract painting. This way of working was inspired by the Italian ‘Arte Povera’ or ‘Poor Art’ Movement of the 1960’s-1970’s whose artists explored a range of unconventional processes and non traditional everyday materials. There is a tension between weight, balance, texture, sheen, density and colour giving a visceral quality to what was otherwise a flat surface. Through the processes of layering and experimentation through making, perceptions of what materials can do and how far you can push them are challenged.

The traditional device of the frame becomes the starting point for the works as the pictorial space is gradually built up around it. This shifts the works from two dimensions to three dimensions and places them on the edge between the familiar and unfamiliar.

Friend’s use of painterly colour, material and surface all combine to tell the story of nature’s potential for regeneration. This new body of work explores the binaries of control and surrender while bringing the viewer in as a participant to an experience of seeing things in new ways. ‘Not All Is Lost’ highlights the possibilities for growth and resilience in an altered world.

Photos by Jessica Maurer.