Vicki Lee's exhibition The Sound of Yellow, taking place in her newly opened gallery space is a love letter to the Sydney art scene. The artist is known for her evocations of emotion - whether dripping roses or paintings reminiscent of the throes of passion, or the exploration of destruction in her show . [period].
In her latest exhibit, Lee explores her unique experience of sensory stimulus through immersive works of a visual, auditory and olfactory nature. Drawing our attention to their point of confluence, The Sound of Yellow offers guests three moments of sensory activation: sound, sight and scent.
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A video work shot by Duc Thinh Dong portrays the experience in a mesmerizing and entrancing manner with Lee narrating her relationship to these senses.
"Sometimes I think I smell truth. Colours, they hold my attention. They hold my body captive."
"My eyes get shotgun seeing first the infinite rainbow available in every moment, awake or asleep."
For the sound component of the exhibition, guests are invited to shed their persona, “uncloak” from the self, and dress in a custom-designed white robe to create a sense of anonymity, receptivity and surrender. Here, guests become the work itself, oscillating like metronomes in perfect union with the patterns and tones of our visual surroundings.
For sight, the subtle, illuminating effect of yellow plays the top note to deeper, base tones of burgundy for the large-scale visual works. Paint, plaster, porcelain and natural resin are used to create texture and movement on backdrops of canvas and mirrored Perspex, existing as physical representations of the sound frequencies blooming in the space.
Intentionally restrained, the minimal colour palate leaves room for the auditory and olfactory senses to find equal footing with our typically dominant visual faculty – complementing rather than overwhelming the corresponding elements
A custom scent designed in collaboration with perfumer Clayton Ilolahia will emerge in one, fleeting gust from a package gifted to each guest. Infused with notes of citron zest, pink pepper, saffron, ambergris and golden syrup, the scent is intended to be experienced as an ephemeral but equally significant element of the sensory triad.
The video ends on a reflective note, "I know this experience is far beyond me. I am open and I am ready for the ride."
