Description
Embracing Chaos
Acrylic On Stretched Canvas
117 × 130 cm
R18 000
Embracing Chaos is a large, densely worked abstract that lives up to its name, filling the canvas edge to edge with layered marks, tangled lines and fragments of colour. Fine white and black lines whip across the surface like grasses or bare branches, while beneath them a busy undergrowth of ochre, rust-red, sage green, lilac and slate blue builds up into a rich, restless thicket. The result reads almost like a wild verge or overgrown garden glimpsed at speed.
Rather than a single focal point, Julie Tugwell offers a whole field of incident to explore, drawing the eye deeper the longer it lingers. The palette is earthy and muted overall, warmed by flickers of orange and gold and cooled by dusty blues and greens, so the painting feels grounded and natural despite its energy. There is order within the tangle — a rhythm of layering and line that turns apparent chaos into a balanced, absorbing whole.
Substantial at well over a metre in each direction, this is a commanding work for a large wall in a living space, gallery-style hallway, studio or office. Its complex, organic surface rewards close viewing while holding its own from across a room, bringing texture, depth and a distinctly contemporary character to an interior.
Style
Julie Tugwell is a contemporary South African artist whose work shares qualities with expressive, gestural traditions, favouring energetic mark-making and an emotional response to her subject over strict realism. In her abstract work she layers line, colour and texture into dense, absorbing surfaces, capturing atmosphere and energy rather than any literal subject. The result is an original artwork that brings warmth, character and considered sophistication to contemporary interiors.
Please note: Images are provided as a guide to the artwork’s size and style. As each original painting is photographed under different lighting conditions and viewed on different screens, colours may vary slightly from the original artwork.
