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Onya McCausland : 51º43 33.56 N 3º07 58.63 W

Past exhibition
17 September - 15 October 2021 Karsten Schubert London
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Overview
Onya McCausland , 51º43 33.56 N 3º07 58.63 W

Throughout her career McCausland has worked almost exclusively in monochrome, pursuing an understanding of mark-making that rejects a dependency on colour, specifically its associations within the realm of formal abstraction. Her practice seeks to capture the essence of her materials, allowing her to draw and paint with a sense of weightlessness both in terms of legacy and physicality.

 

In 2014 McCausland embarked on a project working with the Coal Authority to collect and recycle the natural ochres present in the waste water that flushes through defunct mines, a material that would otherwise be sent to landfill. The ripple effects of this research have been far-reaching, positively impacting local communities, who are now involved in the manufacturing of the waste minerals into oil colours and an emulsion paint that is the very first of its kind. For McCausland, the launch of these rich, chromatic paints is but one of many creative outcomes of her wide-ranging, investigative practice. Perhaps the most pertinent, while minimal in its intervention, is the Six Bells mine site in Wales being recognised as a work of land art by the Coal Authority in 2020. This change of status, and the reclaiming of this land as a public resource, is a remarkable achievement at a time when we are being urged to rethink our attitudes towards environmental sustainability.

 

For 51º43 33.56 N 3º07 58.63 W, McCausland will show paintings that have been made using two of the five ochres her research brought to bear: Six Bells and Saltburn. Their colours are defined by the immediate geology and minerals present in the mines they originate from, giving each pigment unique properties and hues. For example, the intensity of colour in Saltburn 54º34 07.37 N 0º57 42.87 W / No. 3 is achieved through a meticulous process of layering film upon film of diluted paint until the desired luminosity is attained. As the density of colour increases, so does its vibrancy, thus altering its appearance without the need for mixing. The work is a compelling study of colour, line and form that conveys a sense of the infinite, diverting the eye from foreground to background in a way that is both unsettling and visually pleasing.

 

In Saltburn 54º34 07.37 N 0º57 42.87 W / No. 10, 11 and 12 McCausland describes a spatial orientation across multiple small-scale canvases that references a view of the earth from above, echoing the way she first discovered the mine water sites via satellite imagery. These paintings are not intended as descriptions of landscapes, and other than in their titles they do not tell the viewer anything of their origins; nonetheless, their complexity of colour perfectly embodies each site and its history.

 

This is the first time that pigments sourced from these five disused mines have been used to make paintings, and in that sense they are truly radical. But for McCausland, it is the way they fit within a cycle of research, creativity and social change that underpins their value. Ultimately, her interest lies in the way the Six Bells land art, its sustainable paint production and her studio practice have poetically overlapped her desire for balance between material and subject.

 

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Installation Views
  • Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
    Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
  • Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
    Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
  • Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
    Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
  • Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
    Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
  • Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
    Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
  • Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
    Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
  • Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
    Installation view, Karsten Schubert London, 2021
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Works
  • Onya McCausland Six Bells 51°43 33.56 N 3°07 58.63 W / No. 1, 2021 Pigment in oil on canvas 95 x 80 cm | 37 3/8 x 31 1/2 in
    Onya McCausland
    Six Bells 51°43 33.56 N 3°07 58.63 W / No. 1, 2021
    Pigment in oil on canvas
    95 x 80 cm | 37 3/8 x 31 1/2 in
  • Onya McCausland Six Bells 51°43 33.56 N 3°07 58.63 W / No. 2, 2021 Pigment in oil on canvas 45 x 40 cm | 17 3/4 x 15 3/4 in
    Onya McCausland
    Six Bells 51°43 33.56 N 3°07 58.63 W / No. 2, 2021
    Pigment in oil on canvas
    45 x 40 cm | 17 3/4 x 15 3/4 in
  • Onya McCausland Six Bells 51°43 33.56 N 3°07 58.63 W / No. 3, 2020 Pigment in oil on canvas 40 x 45 cm | 15 3/4 x 17 3/4 in
    Onya McCausland
    Six Bells 51°43 33.56 N 3°07 58.63 W / No. 3, 2020
    Pigment in oil on canvas
    40 x 45 cm | 15 3/4 x 17 3/4 in
  • Onya McCausland Saltburn 54°34 07.37 N 0°57 42.87 W / No. 3 , 2019 Pigment in oil on canvas 167 x 136 cm | 65 3/4 x 53 1/2 in
    Onya McCausland
    Saltburn 54°34 07.37 N 0°57 42.87 W / No. 3 , 2019
    Pigment in oil on canvas
    167 x 136 cm | 65 3/4 x 53 1/2 in
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Publications
  • Onya McCausland

    Onya McCausland

    51°43 33.56 N 3°07 58.63 W 2021
    Softcover 23pp pages
    Dimensions: 25 x 17 cm
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News
  • Onya McCausland Paintings Acquired by MIMA

    Onya McCausland Paintings Acquired by MIMA

    Karsten Schubert London is delighted that MIMA has acquired two paintings by Onya McCausland, following her recent solo exhibition 51º43 33.56 N 3º07 58.63 W...
    Read more
  • Onya McCausland: West End Gallery HOP!

    Onya McCausland: West End Gallery HOP!

    Onya McCausland: 51º43 33.56 N 3º07 58.63 W is open late on Thursday 14 October for Mayfair Art Weekend's West End Gallery HOP!
    Read more

Related artist

  • Onya McCausland

    Onya McCausland

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