Jelly Heart
solo exhibition at Grey Street Gallery, QCA
2019
Meanjin, Brisbane
"Jelly heart presents a new series of small paintings by Holly Anderson; like postcards from a beach holiday. In these pictures, surface tensions between soft and hard, squishy and crisp, jelly and ice, juicy fruits and glazed crystals, plastic sandals and squeaky sand are investigated with paint. The uniform glossiness of these painted subjects creates a curious ambiguity in how we perceive their textural properties. Under a net of highlights, objects hinge between soft or glassy. Whether a heart might yield squashily to touch, or shatter on contact, places a set of somatic responses at stake. How might the objects and bodies in these pictures be held, touched, or broken, and with what resulting residues, or consequences? This painterly task dwells on the possible tremors, jiggles and breakings of a jelly heart; a handy metaphor for emotional life."