Exhibition explores resonance

by Bonnie Collings
A multi-media exhibition created by local artists Lauren Maguire, in collaboration with her step-son Aidan Black, is set to stir the emotions of viewers when it opens at the West Gippsland Arts Centre next Tuesday.
Titled "Resonance," the exhibition features nine of Lauren's tactile abstract paintings, each inspired by an original music composition created by Aidan.
Using a fingertip-based technique, Lauren builds layered, textured surfaces that echo the push and pull between dissonance and harmony, while the project explores how sound and visual form influence, disrupt and resolve each other across a shared emotional arc.
The nine paintings are divided into three distinct acts. Viewers will have the opportunity to listen to the music connected to each piece using their own headphones, by scanning the relevant QR code.
Having always created her work while listening to music, Lauren said it felt natural to collaborate with Aidan and his music.

"I said to him one day that I'd love to do something where I was painting to his music, because some of my older paintings were actually inspired by specific lyrics or specific songs," Lauren explained. "Having the music brings a lot of the emotional stuff out for me."

The pair worked out a plan for how to make the collaboration happen.
"I said to him, how about we do something where you compose a score, and I'll use that to inspire paintings," Lauren said.
"But I wanted it to tell a story - I didn't want it to just be pretty paintings on a wall, I didn't want it just to be cool music. I wanted to try and get some type of emotional response out of people. And I wanted to also give people the chance to do what I do, which is hear the music while you're looking at the painting."
Lauren and Aidan settled on "Resonance" as the name of the exhibition and as the central theme of the works explored.
"We wanted to try and pull out the physiological response in people while they're having visual response and an emotional response to the work," Lauren said.
"We needed to find something that spoke to both the music and the vibration of the music, as well as the emotional journey of it, and I felt like (the word) resonance kind of does that."
The nine paintings differ in style and creation to Lauren's past work. Previously, her paintings were created using her hands and fingertips and captured "almost pure emotional expression."
"But a little while ago I (thought) it's all well and good to paint to the emotion, but who are the humans that are actually sitting behind the emotions, and how do I acknowledge those humans?" Lauren said.
"When I was thinking about "Resonance" and what we wanted to do with that, I felt like it was really important to bring that human aspect to it. Because while the music points to the journey of the music note, for me that's represented in the journey of us and our emotions and our humanity."
Lauren's artwork has always been rooted in human emotion, grounded by her lived experience. In the depths of a very traumatic time in her life, Lauren turned to painting as a way of processing her emotions. "I had a number of significant things happen...I absolutely lost control through that period. I was seeing a therapist every week, trying to do all the things, but just couldn't shift it."
After moving into a townhouse with big, empty walls during COVID lockdown, Lauren got some canvases and started painting, in what she described as an "unhealthy way."
"I was drinking heavily, I would be up all night, headphones on (playing) really loud music, lots of alcohol, blocking the whole world out," she said.
"Some nights I would cry through the whole process, it was absolutely an escape for me, and almost a release."
As she began to feel painting was working for her, Lauren said she explored personal expression in her pieces
"I think deep down, that's why my work resonates with people because ultimately that lived experience is in it. It's talking to some pretty hard stuff sometimes," Lauren said.
"I'm well and truly past that point now ... but it definitely saved me through that period for sure."
Lauren said her overarching goal for the exhibition was to encourage people to engage with art and remove the feeling that art is only reserved for a select group.
"I feel like there is a real difficulty in everyday people accessing and understanding art, I think there's almost a bit of fear around it," she said.
"Art is not reserved for special people. People may think it's too scary, that they're going to sound stupid if they ask questions. I just really want to break that (feeling) down. I'd love for people to be really curious about it."
During the creation of the exhibition, Lauren said she'd enjoyed developing a creative-collaborator relationship with Aidan pushing each other to "think outside the square."
"I've enjoyed being able to develop an already good relationship with Aidan and push it into a creative place that we didn't already have, and challenging him as a young muso to really think outside his square, but equally, doing that for me," she said.
"Some of these (pieces) are quite heavy and uncomfortable, but it's intentionally uncomfortable. For me to paint it and leave it uncomfortable makes me twitch a lot, but it's been a really important thing for me to just do it and embrace that."
Looking ahead to the exhibition opening next week, Lauren said she was looking forward to seeing Aidan's reactions, and the reactions of everyone in the room.
"Seeing (Aidan's) emotional response to it is super important to me, when I listened to his music for the first time, I got really emotional and I want him to have that," she said.
"Opening night will be huge for me because I get to be there to see people's responses, and I don't often get that."
"Resonance" will open at the West Gippsland Arts Centre on Tuesday May 26 and remain on display until Friday June 26.