Well, I’m a colorful gal.
And I love a good mix of patterns in my wardrobe, life, and art.
But I confess that I have more than met my match with my feature artist for today’s installment for my 100 Days of Encouragement Project! Let’s celebrate Kobie Bosch, a painter whose use of pattern, color and story are absolutely riveting.
Born and raised in South Africa, Kobie has been based in Sydney, Australia for about 15 years. Her work reveals a fascination with Australian wildlife and the concept of home. But what is truly fascinating about Kobie’s paintings is the blurring of the lines between the external natural world and our interior domestic spaces, between the real and artifice, between the original and the reflection.
Drawing inspiration from everyday household objects, gardens and parks, her art practice is both a “push hatch” to a world of play, curiosity and delight, and a workspace for her to explore the dichotomies of devastation and beauty, heartache and elegance, betwixt and between.
She is intrigued by the element of space in a painting. She often chops the picture plane irreverently, differentiating space with shifts in patterns, colors, textures and forms. Looking at one of her fantastically patterned paintings, I get the sense of a patchwork quilt, made whole by the deliberate stitching together of pieces of fabric that were first cut from their original ground of being.
Her process is complex – as befits the complexity of her designs. She begins by chalking the main bones of a composition onto her canvas. She lets the project marinate a bit at this stage, waiting a day or two before moving on to her “inking” process. Then she mixes a dark color and paints over the chalk lines, a process that slows her down and gives room for reflection. Next she comes in with large brushes and lays down tonal washes. Using oil colors and linseed oil, she then begins to meticulously paint in the details – birds, flowers, animals, objects, and patterns. At the end, she works in shadows and other details that tie the whole together.
When she is absorbed in her process, she gets surprises from the work — birds that seem to want to live on plates rather than tree branches, animals peeking from behind screens, magpies carrying fables.
The end result is a busy, colorful enchantment, where the birds on the wallpaper might also be animate, with tail feathers breaking the wall surface. The painting on the wall might have a sense of gaze as dominant as a living creature in the foreground. And the outside and inside worlds might collide with delicious absurdity.
Kobie is currently preparing for her upcoming solo show at Purple Noon Gallery — she has written narratives (based on her love of fables and folktales) to accompany each piece in this show. How I wish I could be there to see it in person! But, for now, I will have to be satisfied with the glimpses she’s giving us through her Instagram posts.
How You Can Be an Encouragement
Please check out Kobie’s offerings on Instagram, follow her, and send her some encouragement today by commenting on one of her posts or sending her a direct message.
Instagram: @kobiebosch
Website: www.kobiebosch.com
© Kobie Bosch — Plated Birds or Birded Plates?
