Bec Watson is a Northern Tasmanian painter concerned with the nature of the human mind.
The negotiation of meaning is her concern and her discussion paintings throw light on the very personal nature of understanding. For these works her technique combines rich impasto surfaces with marks that are made looking at the canvas in a oblique fashion. In this way she avoids visual clarity, echoing the extremely negotiable nature of human understandings. Her figures are muffled against the cold while seated around a fire talking, a practice as old as humanity.
The “Ravens and Bulls” series is the product of intensive research on esoteric symbolism particularly the historical symbolism of the nature of the human psyche.
The Raven, an example of the extraordinarily clever and curious Corvid family, has in scientific studies displayed understanding of foreknowledge and active prediction of scenarios. Throughout history cultures have marvelled at these intelligent, curious, and exploratory creatures and in time the image of the raven has become an accepted symbol of the intellectual and spiritual core of the human psyche.
The Bull, long used as a beast of burden and work animal, has become a strong symbol of the raw, physical nature of life while lacking the spirit and intellect of the mercurial and clever Raven. Tied to the ground and used for its power the Bull becomes the other side of the coin, representing in equal measure the duality of the human mind and body.
