Coffs Harbour artists marry unique styles for collaborative project Coffs Coast Coffs Coast - popup ad Coffs Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - April 19, 2024 Artists Janet Besançon and John Thiering with one of their collaborative pieces. COFFS HARBOUR artists Janet Besançon and John Thiering describe their decision to collaborate on creating works of art as “an ambitious thing to do”. The pair of friends decided to “let go of the preciousness” that can come with being a solitary painter and “see how we’d go working together on a piece”. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au The pair have produced a pleasing body of about ten collaborative works they are exhibiting at Nexus Community Gallery in Bellingen in April-May, as well as individual pieces that are true to their solitary styles. “Some attempts were unsuccessful and were discarded… while others worked really well,” Janet told NOTA, laughing, in her typically joyful manner. “We overcame the challenges and others worked really well.” John told NOTA he and Janet come from “very different backgrounds” in terms of artistic style, media and experience. Janet’s work focuses on abstract patterns and textures, while John is mainly a figurative artist. Janet’s style is symbolic and abstract, and she loves to experiment with mediums, whereas John is more interested in the narrative told in his paintings. Together they have endeavoured to marry these differences to create coherent artworks. “It’s like an opera singer and a country singer writing an album together and trying to make it work,” said John, agreeing that they “bridged the divide” in this, their first collaboration. All the work in the show is brand new, with half the works being created together. The other half of the exhibition are individual pieces. “I have been working on a series of portraits employing a range of experimental painting and drawing techniques,” said John. “I usually start with random and incidental backgrounds into which I embed the human figure.” Keen to move away from previous work showcased in an exhibition earlier this year in January, Janet told NOTA she has been employing her “first love” of gouache, as well as oil, wax and collage. “I have also continued to use ochres from both my homeland of France, and Gumbaynggirr country. “Much of my works are landscapes from the Mid North Coast and small formats artworks,” she said. The ENSEMBLE exhibition from Janet Besançon and John Thiering runs from 21 April -17 May 2024 at Nexus Community Gallery Bellingen. The artists are hosting a Meet and Greet at the Gallery on Sunday 28 April at 2pm. By Andrea FERRARI ‘Rien, a collaborative work by artists Janet Besançon and John Thiering. A painting by John Thiering, indicative of his style of “embedding figures in random backgrounds”. ‘Lointaine brume’ by Janet Besançon.
