Along the Path: Moving with the unfolding line
A Solo Exhibition by Belinda Evans
ALONG THE PATH is the debut solo exhibition by Belinda Evans, representing a dedicated inquiry into the nature of journey and the unfolding mark. This body of work explores travels through diverse landscapes, from the river trails of Heidelberg and the coastal paths of the Mornington Peninsula to a 16-day pilgrimage along Spain’s Camino. These physical experiences serve as the catalyst for an intuitive, ‘pre-intellectual’ artistic and philosophical exploration. Central to Evans’s practice is an investigation into the primacy of the gesture over the intellect. By allowing the mark to emerge before the analytical mind can intervene, she taps into the mystery of the creative process and a sense of indefinable Quality that exists beyond formal definition. Her multidisciplinary response, comprising large-scale gestural works and hundreds of intimate sketches, documenting a journey of awakening where the body’s kinetic energy is transformed into a transcription of inner experience.
The exhibition transforms the Montsalvat Barn Gallery into an immersive environment where the visual and auditory converge. The walls are activated by a dialogue between energetic, large-scale drawings and a soundscape featuring the recorded rhythms of footsteps on the varied terrains of the Camino. This installation invites the viewer to experience the sensory resonance of the path, bridging the external landscape with an internal, creative awakening.
‘Day One to VilleVante’, quadriptych, four works on paper on wooden panels, varnished finish, bolted together, 280cmx50cm
‘Blessings’, works on paper on wooden panel, varnished finish, 70cmx50cm
‘Chocolate from a Scotsman to help me up the hill’, works on paper on wooden panel, varnished finish, 70cmx50cm
‘Double ponies’, works on paper on wooden panel, varnished finish, 70cmx50cm
‘Last day, dancing up the mountain’, works on paper on wooden panel, varnished finish, 70cmx50cm
‘Flowers at the end’, works on paper on wooden panel, varnished finish, 70cmx50cm
‘Love and Goodness’, ink and watercolour on paper mounted on wooden panel with varnish finish, 20x20cm
‘Small sanctuary’, ink and watercolour on paper mounted on wooden panel with varnish finish, 20x20cm
Finding Stillness Along the Path
We often talk about the Camino in kilometres, elevations, and stamps in a credential. For me, the 16-day walk I recently did across the central Camino Frances way, was defined by a different metric, the distance between the noise in my mind and the steady rhythm of my feet.
I thought I was ready, physically and mentally, but there were moments, many of them, where my mind would construct a wall of doubt, insisting that the next hill was too steep or the pack too heavy. Yet, every day, there was a quiet miracle in my body’s ability to simply finish. My legs had a resolve that my intellect hadn’t yet caught up to.
I found the only way to ‘survive’ my mind was to take regular stops. So I incorporated my artistic needs with my resting, and watched as the convoy of pilgrims passed me by.
As an artist, my instinct is to translate experience into a mark. On the path, stopping on the side of the track wasn’t just about resting my feet; it was about slowing down the world until I could actually see it. When I pulled out my paper and brush, the ‘hurry’ of the journey dissolved.
In those moments of drawing, a profound connection occurred. First, I connected with everything around me. The amazing way the storks could nest and perch on small church roofs, the miracle of many tiny insects and animals thriving next to the hot dusty gravel, the inviting moss and winding branches of the magical forests. And then, my connection moved deeper. By focusing on the gesture, letting my hand move before my brain could overthink it, I was able to connect with myself at a level that words couldn’t reach. It was like capturing my transformation as a transcription of the struggle, the beauty and the spirit of the experience, all combined.
Since returning to my studio in Melbourne, and most recently during a residency at Scott’s Church in Heidelberg, I have been reliving those moments from my 100 small sketches taken during the walk. I have found an amazing way to relive the thrill of the walk. Every time I strike the paper with brush and ink, I am back on that trail, re-experiencing the joy and the hardships.
The finished body of work, which I’ve titled Along the Path, is less a collection of images and more a record of an internal process of creative and personal transformation.
I am bringing these records of the walk to Montsalvat this April. I look forward to sharing these works with you, not just about art, but as conversations about the rhythms we all find on the path. I would be honoured to meet fellow pilgrims, to hear the stories of your own paths, and to celebrate the quiet joy of finally arriving. – Belinda Evans