Cut off, off cut depicts a bunch of lilies in a glass vase on a table against a background of artist boards stacked up against it. The wet paint was inscribed with the word beautiful and a Basquiat-ish upside down crown. Part of the Grey Painting series of works by O’Sullivan, it speaks to a theme of isolation, melancholy and subdued gloom. The upside-down crown is perhaps a symbol of the artist’s loss of exuberant vigour which is generally associated with flower paintings. As with others in the grey series, the charm of the work lies in it’s humble invitation to a quiet, patient reading of the work in which a close inspection reveals the inscribed words at odds with the piece’s theme, and the lively wet in wet brushwork transforms it into a piece that screams.
About the Grey Painting collection:
Primarily painted in the summer between 2008-2009. The series consists of un-exhibited work in the artist’s private collection which explore O’Sullivan’s experience with debilitating, melancholia. The Grey series consists of acrylic paintings made using a wet in wet technique that requires immediate execution of the painting in a race against the clock to beat Sydney, Australia’s sweltering summer temperatures