Ida Lawrence: A Bigger Misha

Ida Lawrence’s ‘narrative paintings’ combine text, images and patterns to tell stories of (mis)understanding, (dis)connection, generosity, failure and surprise. Lawrence draws upon small observations, tiny gestures and subtle feelings that the artist has experienced or imagined in the places she has lived: Australia, Indonesia, and since 2019, Germany.

Lawrence enjoys playing with the ‘visual language’ of painting, or the way in which images can have multiple meanings and an awareness of the ways a painting is made, including its ‘abstract’ and painterly qualities, and the way these can contribute to or subvert the story being told.

Often presented with a mercurial charm, the construction process (or illusion of it) remain visible in Lawrence’s work, as layers of paint build up amidst hurried brushstrokes.   In the case of A Bigger Misha, the surface of the painting is interrupted by gash marks and two cut outs-these silhouettes create a three-dimensional surface , an aspect that is amplified by its immersive installation.