Josie Morway - Migration
Josie Morway creates detailed paintings of birds, animals and foliage that resemble religious portraits from the Italian Renaissance, bestowing upon the creatures a sense of divine eminence. Her highly detailed works are experty rendered in oil paint, and in the past have often included intricate geometric pattern-work or lettering which are painted in gold enamel. In this particular series Josie was thinking about the concept of borders, the ways in which they develop naturally, the human tendency to want to impose them on the earth unnaturally and their capacity to alter movement, growth, safety and refuge. The subjects here can be seen pulling gold thread through the paintings as though they are drawing and redrawing their own borders. In two of her works Josie has chosen to pay tribute to her co-exhibitor Scott Listfield in a truly remarkable way. In a square composition we are presented a close-crop of an eyeball, and in its reflection can be seen in one an astronaut and in the other one of his iconic floating shapes.
