"Michelle Cawthorn's collages in
A tenuous thing are of a mostly intimate scale that
forces the viewer to get up close and linger over meaning.
Not that that
meaning is immediately obvious!
The works act like visual conundrums of everyday life, but
there is always a hook to delight or invite the viewer to undo or be done up by
their beauty.
Formally the collages are made from watercolour, pencil and
cut pieces of paper both covering and revealing information. The strange
combination of figuration and abstraction is slightly awkward forcing the viewer to draw odd relationships.
It's the connection between things that becomes interesting." (Peter Sharp, Artist)