OptiChiasma

OptiChiasma

Oil Painting | Mixed Media

OptiChiasma was a group exhibition by Svenja Kratz, Michelle Oxenham and Lucille Korponay exhibited at Metro Arts, Brisbane in 2003.

From the catalogue:

Every light-sensitive cell in the retina is connected by a nerve to the brain. This is where the information about pattern, colour and shape is computed. All these nerve fibres collect together at the back of the eye to form the optic nerve. This runs back from the eyeball through a bony tunnel in the skull and emerges inside the skull bone just beneath the brain in the region of the pituitary gland; here it is joined by its fellow optic nerve. This cross-over point is known as the optic chiasma. Points of convergence and the transit of information or light is a synchronous consideration of the artists Lucille Korponay, Michelle Oxenham and Svenja Kratz.

The basic equation of their work involves experience, creative manipulation of that experience and a final communication through the visual. With knowledge of the mechanism of the optic chiasma, a parallel can be drawn between the points of convergence during visual processing and the points of convergence during the creative process. The information in the optic nerves from the retina crosses over and separates again before entering the visual cortex as information, similarly, during the creative process ideas and images converge and separate before the final artwork is completed.

The works exhibited by Svenja Kratz included a series of oil paintings and mixed media/digital prints commenting on the increased technologisation of everyday life and subjectivity.

PROJECT DETAILS

Oil Painting and Mixed/Digital Media

This work explores the impact of new technologies on concepts of self and perceptions of reality. The exhibition included two series – Hybrid Selves and Outdoor Furniture.
COMPLETED: 2002 – 2003
MATERIALS: Canvass, Oil Painting, Digital Print/Drawing
CLASSIFICATION: Painting and Mixed Media