How to Resist A State of Forgetfulness was exhibited at SO Fine Art Editions in November 2021.
The title of the show refers to the essay in which art critic John Berger considers whether nature can be ‘read’ as a text or language through the process of drawing and engagement. He further reflects on whether the uncovering of this natural mother-tongue might help us to resist the ‘historic amnesia’ of the modern era. Inspired by these ideals, Long’s new body of work delves into the relationship between language and the landscape, combining painting, drawing and mark-making to create intriguing works that both examine and play with natural forms.
Exhibition Text
and in conversation with the goddess Danú
dripping in dialogue –
A line comes out to say hello; ‘please picture me!’
It puffs and bleeds
and billows
stringing out sentences in a line,
catching and cradling
contours and corners
Crowning the head of a petal or a tree.
Casting and creating upwards, all-around-you
and nestling you to sleep
with a spike, a squiggle or a scrawl!
It collects,
pools and
congeals
until you believe you are a woman trapped;
A bramble mixed up with the furies of the celestial past
or the further heavens above.
It’s definitely not the type of system you would invent if you were designing it – but behind the myth you are holding the whole world.
Sarah Long | Artist 