Based in the Central Highlands of Victoria with her toddler, artist Bridgette McNab explores the idea of lifting the veil on perceived realities and searching for truth and wisdom amongst the tangible and sensory world. Taking a multidisciplinary approach to her work, her explorations translate into figurative works imbued with a strong use of colour and graphic style, creating emotionally available works that offer up her insights to her audience. McNab seeks to create work that champions the positive effects that art has on reducing social isolation and anxiety. Her work seeks to promote positive emotions such as hope, enjoyment, and optimism, or new inspirational and meaningful experiences.

The featured artwork below is from two series: Motherhood and Divine Intervention.

Working directly from personal experiences of motherhood, pregnancy, birth and postnatal depression, the series Motherhood contains autobiographical paintings which focus on the physicality and interdependence of a mother / child relationship. Rejecting overly romanticised views of motherhood, this collection of works see’s McNab depart from figuratism into minimal abstraction.

 ‘These paintings function as emotional landscapes and metaphorical portraits that narrate my experience of motherhood. Themes emerging are isolation, control, anxiety and joy - the transformative and traumatic experience of becoming a parent.'

“The painting Sleep Training refers to the process of wanting to 'teach' my baby how to sleep independently. It was an arduous, intense and exhausting experience - in a sense we were both 'training'. I wanted the painting to express the feeling of training for a sporting event, so I drew on images of a tennis court and football field, with the flower motif acting as a metaphor for my daughter in the day and the night.” 

The second series, A Divine Intervention, is a thematic body of work that speaks to finding the light in times of darkness. By seeing a difficult period as an invitation to use her artistic process to explore, McNab found a way to unlock deeper parts of herself. These paintings highlight the key focus areas of her practice such as lifting the veil on perceived realities and the power of art in addressing mental health and wellbeing.

Experiencing the decline of her parents' physical and mental health, McNab was confronted with thoughts of mortality and began analysing the cyclical nature of existence and relationships. During this exploration, McNab felt an intuitive calling to paint the moon which became the catalyst for her journey of spiritual illumination, as it inspired a visit to a Kinesiologist for the first time. What unfolded during those sessions- physically, mentally and subconsciously informed the exploration of paintings that came next. Fascinated by this new mystic perspective, McNab began to unpack these concepts visually using symbolism and spiritualist colour theory, now more finely receptive of her personal physical world.

Both the Motherhood and Divine Intervention bodies of work are similar in that they are both drawn from personal experiences in McNab’s present life. They are a means for processing and reflecting on what is transpiring. The use of symbolism and metaphors communicate these experiences in a more subtle way leaving room for the viewer to interpret them through the lens of their own experiences making McNab’s work personally informative and transportive for each new viewer.