White Nuances III, 2020, oil on Italian linen, 112 x 112 cm
White Circle within White Square I, 2020, oil on Italian linen, 102 x 102 cm
Three White Rectangles, 2020, oil on Italian linen, 102 x 102 cm
White Nuances IV, 2020, oil on Italian linen, 102 x 102 cm
Two Rectangles within White Square, 2020, oil on Italian linen, 102 x 102 cm
Two White Squares, 2020, oil on Italian linen, 102 x 102 cm
The paintings in White Nuances explore the subtleties of white and the responsiveness of white paint when layered on linen with a geometric aesthetic.
Wassily Kandinsky claimed that only with the development of abstraction could white be asserted on its own terms. In his book of theory Concerning the Spiritual in Art he states, ‘White…has the harmony of silence…It is not dead silence, but one pregnant with possibilities.’ And it is the restraint of painting only with white that offers a plethora of possibilities, with the focus on exposing the essence of form and illusionistic space. The white-on-white process results in forms closer to light grey than white. A white shape appears whiter than the one that precedes it, and this repetitive process of experimenting with nuances of white goes on and on.
The focus of my work is an inquiry into Minimalism and the preoccupation with reduction, geometry and parallels, and notions of philosophical quietism. My creative process also connects to earlier literary work, particularly that of Gertrude Stein, who used the repetition of words to not only create emphasis, but to explore antistasis. This notion of replication is reflected when a shape is repeated, and impacts the composition differently each time it is repeated.
White is the summation of all colours, yet it is vacant and silent. It is these associations of white that make our experience sensory, arising from our own sensitivity. Through the simplicity of form and colour, stillness and void, White Nuances offers respite from a fast-paced contemporary life that is saturated with digital imagery.
Danica Firulovic was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts/Arts at the College of Fine Arts (COFA) in 2009 and a Master of Art Administration at UNSW Art and Design in 2013.
In 2018 Firulovic was a finalist in the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, and has been a finalist in other art prizes including the Byron Art Magazine Art Prize, the Hornsby Art Prize, and Blacktown City Art Prize. She has been included in group exhibitions at Cross Gallery, Bundaberg, COMA Gallery, Sydney, Langford120, Melbourne, and The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong. White Nuances is her third solo exhibition at Galerie pompom.
