Beyond Form

The next large-scale presentation at Michael Reid Northern Beaches, Beyond Form brings together three tremendously talented West Australian contemporary painters – Jordy Hewitt, Kate Dolan and Sara Winfield – for a celebration of abstraction and the emotional power of paint.

Unfolding across two rooms at our Newport gallery, this dynamic group show invites us beyond the seen world and into realms of colour, movement and rhythm. Whether through amorphous, gossamer hues, boldly gestural brushstrokes, intuitive mark-making or raw, tactile surfaces, each artist brings a distinct painterly language. What they share is a commitment to process-led painting and abstraction as a way of navigating lived and felt experiences.

Eschewing the figurative in favour of feeling, the artists of Beyond Form affirm abstraction’s enduring capacity to mesmerise, move and transport. The result is an immersive and deeply resonant presentation of collectable contemporary painting from Western Australia.

Jordy Hewitt’s work traces interior states and embodied experience, drawing on “life meaning, symbolism and energy” to arrive at a distilled emotional essence. Her paintings are intuitive and searching: “Everything I observe and experience is processed and regurgitated in the works and shows me something about where I’m at.”

Kate Dolan approaches her canvases instinctively, often starting with pastel gestures and letting the piece to evolve via movement and mood. Her colour fields and graphic linework offer snapshots of emotional time, shaped by experience and fleeting encounters with colour in the world around her. “Whatever is happening in my life is reflected in my paintings. I try not to plan too much – I just let them happen.”

Sara Winfield brings a raw physicality to Beyond Form, layering oil stick, sand, sawdust and paper to create textured surfaces that speak to the tension and beauty of female experience. Her work is grounded in personal narrative – a navigation of motherhood, identity and the competing demands of care and freedom. Her work offers “a reflection of my inner world… the tension between chaos and calm.”

To discuss works from Beyond Form, please email northernbeaches@michaelreid.com.au