Welcome to the online catalogue for our latest exhibition A State of Grace featuring paintings by Sela Brass and bronze sculpture and ceramics by Libbie Persico.

The exhibition runs until the 8th of February at Potocki Paterson, 41 Dixon St.

Open daily Tuesday to Friday 11.00am to 5.30pm and Saturday 11.00am to 3.00pm

Please make your enquiries to dylan@potockipaterson.co.nz or alternatively via Facebook or Instagram.

Sela Brass Down the Rabid Hole Acrylics, Ash, Wood, Marble, Stone, Earth and Oils on canvas          102cm (h) x 76cm (w)  Pain and illness, judgement and stigma may distort and isolate causing one to feel curiously apart from the ‘army of the upright’ (Virginia Woolf). The sick can find themselves removed and alienated, much like falling down a rabid hole of judgement and labelling.

$2,800

Libbie Persico                                                            Introspection                           Bronze

We’re often aware of our own imperfections unable to see the beauty in them, even when it’s obvious to others. This work explores the idea of being able to literally see inside. Our imperfect insides can be the best bit.$4,900      1 of 3

Sela Brass                                                                    Stigmatised          Acrylics, Ash, Wood, Marble, Stone, Earth and Oils on board           60cm (h) x 87cm (w)

When a person is ‘living in diagnosis’ with a long-term illness, there is no service that tells them what they can do to have a good life while they are ill, so it’s a personal choice that can be difficult to achieve. Underlying messages such as ‘If you just got your psychological shit together, you wouldn’t have pain’ or ‘This is your fault, you used opiates’ can lead to blames the victim all over again causing even angels to be silenced and stand speechless, their arms folded.$ 2,200

Sela Brass                                                                   Inbetweenness Acrylics, Ash, Wood, Marble, Stone, Earth and Oils                               122cm (h) x 61cm (w)

When ‘I’ is replaced by ‘We’ even illness becomes wellness’! Malcolm X. Some people run away from pain and suffering. Others dive deep into the problem and stand together with hearts as one, facing up to pain together, refusing to go away.

$2,400

Sela Brass                                                                    Joined at the Hip Acrylics, Ash, Wood, Marble, Stone, Earth and Oils on canvas          122cm (h) x 61cm (w)

‘I love you neither with my heart nor with my mind. My heart might stop my mind can forget. I love you with my soul because my soul never stops or forgets’. - Rumi

$2,500

Sela Brass                                                                    Snowfield of the Mind             Acrylics, Pigment, Ash, Wood on canvas                                                   102cm (h) x 61cm (w)This painting was inspired by Virginia Woolf’s essay ‘On Being Ill’ where she describes the isolation that may occur when one is sick. Over 100 layers of pigment, paint and ash build a deliberate barrenness and isolation with the two figures on a journey forwards both towards one another and into the solitude. While deliberately uncomfortable, the snowfield is reflective and carries a lonely beauty. Accepting this beauty is a form of grace.

$2,800

Sela Brass                                                                    Faith Dichotomy                   

Oils, Ash and Pigment on canvas                                                                  122cm (h) x 61cm (w)

Suffering throughout the ages has caused many to pause and wonder where God is and why he seems so curiously silent and detached from our pain, literally sitting on his hands (described in Jewish culture as tzimtzum). Holding faith in these times can feel uncomfortably dichotomous – from dark, anguished questions shouted out to the silence to the quiet whisper acknowledging the hope that carrying faith brings.$2,200

Sela Brass                                                                    The Hollow Cross Acrylics, Ash, Wood, Marble, Stone, Earth and Oils                               122cm (h) x 61cm (w)

When the cross feels hollow and God seems far away it is the presence, heart, and grasp of others that reaches out and grabs me back, restoring and reassuring me. There’s a sense of rescue there. As we get engaged in each other’s lives, we can be truly spiritual or truly graceful. The figures that are less detailed are less involved. Some have their back turned. We can be any one of the figures – and maybe through our lifetimes, we all are.

$2,400

Sela Brass                                                                    The Others                Acrylics, Pigment, Ash, Wood on canvas                                                   61cm (h) x 81cm (w)

When people are ill, they can be stigmatised and made other. This process of ‘othering’ involves judgement and standing back, deliberately withdrawing from connectedness or intimacy with the other. Grace, central in this painting, defies such alienation.

$2,200

Libbie Persico                                                 Revelation      

Bronze

This Limited-Edition Series of bronze faces makes a spectrum between nearly all there and nearly all gone, intended to confront people with ideas of nothingness and being only partially here in this world, raising questions of where we begin and end.

12. $3,200

13. $2,900

14. $2,200

15. $1,500

16. $700

Libbie Persico                                                 Into Grace                              

Bronze

There is an element of sacrifice in love, life and grief. The idea of putting the figure on the cross shows grace can arise from love and sacrifice. In this case, it is used to show the female experience.The more you love, the harder you grieve.

 $900        Limited Edition Series of 10

 Sela Brass                                                                    Clinging Acrylics, Ash, Wood, Marble, Stone, Earth and Oils on canvas          77cm (h) x 122cm (w)

The scholar-poet Rumi tells us that joy lies concealed in grief. Clinging to faith and gratitude in the crucible of pain, suffering and fear calls humanity to exercise grace and to hold on to hope no matter what.

$2,200

Sela BrassExploring the Graces                 Acrylics, Ash, Wood, Marble, Stone, Earth and Oils on canvas          61cm (h) x 122cm (w)

The concept of Grace is found in old wisdom's such as in Greek Mythology and sacred texts. Here the Greek graces Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne are portrayed, alongside the five graces of sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste as seen in the East and grace from the Bible. Ash denotes adversity while vibrant yellows depict the power of grace.

 $2,800

Libbie Persico                                                              Gratitude                                        

Ceramic

With continuous pressure, cracks open up and become fissures letting out the light from within.  The gold radiates out surrounding ourselves.

$480

Libbie Persico                                                             Guardian

Ceramic

The snake provokes a primal response, yet the figure remains serene and graceful. The snake is the urn, so once the urn is in use, the snake becomes the guardian of what lies within.

$480

Libbie Persico                                                             The Vessel                           

Ceramic

This heart-shaped vessel represents thoughts of the afterlife. The snake could represent danger and captivity  or healing and protection. Heaven or Hell?

$480

Sela Brass                                                                    The Choice (black landscape) Acrylics, Ash, Wood, Marble, Stone, Earth and Oils on board           86cm (h) x 60cm (w)

Viktor Frankl identified that between stimulus and response there is a space in which lies the power to choose our comeback. The endeavour to find grace in the midst of adversity requires bloody-minded attention to the positive that lies hidden within the negative.$2,200

Libbie PersicoReleased                             Bronze

Sometimes there’s nothing left. But then we can be truly free and leave what we’ve known behind. The figures are about to ascend from standing on scorched earth, while rejoicing in being released from their earthly bounds.

$2,800

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