Tempered Resolution by Daniel O'Toole
Melbourne-based multimedia artist Daniel O’Toole’s latest exhibition at Curatorial+Co identifies musical notes as colours, informing his artistic practice and reimagining melodies into defused moments of light and colour.
Words: Georgie Ward | Photography: Marcus Coblyn
‘This body of work aims to evoke a range of moods that speak to both the calm, and dramatic aspects of our changing environment. It’s a meditation on the alchemy of change,’ says Daniel O’Toole. Photo: Marcus Coblyn
Multimedia artist Daniel O’Toole's latest exhibition, Tempered Resolution, unveils his powerful digital art, inspired by the subtle and unexpected colour changes in nature, as a result of rapidly increasing climate change.
The exhibition, showing at Sydney gallery Curatorial+Co, reflects the chaos and calm of an increasingly warming planet and the effects of heat on our environment. ‘I was thinking about how nature creates colour in a myriad of ways, at unexpected times, in the most unusual place,’ says Daniel.
Sound and colour are an inherent part of Daniel’s art practice. From a young age, he’s experienced synaesthesia when learning the violin and flute, meaning he sees musical notes as colours.
The condition continues to inform his practice, playing on this idea of senses to enhance experience. Enlightening the senses, his exhibition is accompanied by a soundtrack of his own music, Omens, which seeks to further reflect the artwork's mood and subject matter.
‘By removing the viewer from the outside distractions, the specific hormones and sounds further intensify the exhibition's themes of alchemic change, and the power of nature to create both beauty and destruction.’
Wedge 1 by Daniel O’Toole. Photo: Marcus Coblyn
Quake & Shine by Daniel O’Toole. Photo: Marcus Coblyn
“It can be fun to discover new things you hadn’t planned on. I’m looking for something dynamic and unusual, even uneasy moments; otherworldly and altered, but still organic.”
Daniel’s process for this show began with weeks of researching various ways of altering metal materials through the use of chemical tempering for different glows, glazes and colour combinations. He then photographs the heat-treated metal digitally and builds a library of assets to experiment within his digital sketchbook. Some of his works are made with photoshop, while others are painted more intuitively.
Daniel’s work utilises vibrant shapes and nuanced gradients that emerge from his experimentation. His artworks are framed behind a frosted screen, to alter perception and bring a light and softened touch to his static images.
With this, he moves away from a very digitised image, bringing a more authentic and defused piece, ‘My work also considers the impact of the digital age on shifts in the natural world. With technology becoming rapidly embroiled with biology, our need for a considered relationship with nature is more important than ever.’
The exhibition takes place at Curatorial+Co from August 24th to September 3rd. Daniel welcomes visitors inside his artistic realm, encouraging visitors to bring headphones along, listen to his music and stay a while!
TEMPERED RESOLUTION BY DANIEL O’TOOLE AT CURATORIAL&CO
WEDNESDAY 24TH AUGUST - SATURDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER
Studio 1, 175 Cleveland Street Redfern, Sydney
