Retired and abandoned surfboards, resurrected and transformed into stunning works of art!

24th November – 7th December 2008

84a Pacific Highway, Roseville

Official Opening Sunday 30th November, 5-7pm
 

Coming from a family of surfers, it was at a time when Jo was away from her family and unable to visit the coast that she began painting on surfboards, hoping to somewhat relieve her longing. The first board she painted was the one she rode as a teenager, no longer surfable but too sentimental to throw away. After this first experience Jo was hooked. She says “There's something about the shape of boards that inspires me so much more than a square canvas. These paintings, these boards, they really create themselves, I'm just along for the ride. And it's so exciting to bring back to life something that would otherwise be thrown away.” The unique personality of each board seems to emerge from the depths of the sea, colours and images framed by rushing water along the rails.
 
A musician and popular Sydney artist's model by trade, Jo Cunningham is constantly surrounded by creativity in many forms which she draws on for inspiration in her work. It's not surprising then that Jo's own approach to painting is dance-like and intuitive; a delicious mix between the natural flow of paint and her own desires to engage in representing familiar forms and experience.
 
Jo often works outside in the elements and particularly delights in painting during wind and rain, allowing it to create unique patterns and textures. Each finished work has it's own personality, a life of it's own. As a result of this unique creative process, Jo's works are often abstract/semi-abstract, allowing an opportunity for the viewer to either resonate with her own personal dance or find their own special meaning in the collaboration of paint, human experience and the elements of nature.  
 
The boards are painted in hard wearing enamel and acrylic house paints, finished in a marine grade varnish containing UV inhibitors so colours won't fade in the sun. Boards in the exhibition are priced to sell, ranging from $170 - $550. Boards come ready to hang vertically or horizontally, and are suitable for display in or outdoors.