INFUSION; DIFFUSE

LARGE PRINT AUDIO DESCRIPTION TRANSCRIPT

 You are listening to the audio description of Infusion; Diffuse, by Sean McDowell.

An exhibition of four oil paintings on linen, unframed and presented as a series, titled number one through to number four.

This audio description brings together excerpts from the artist’s statement with visual description of the works.

Infusion; Diffuse is displayed at The Gallery at City Library, with support from the City of Melbourne Arts Grants and Arts Access Victoria.

Paintings one and four measure 180 centimetres high by 230 centimetres wide. Paintings two and three measure 183 centimetres high by 213 centimetres wide. The paintings are hung horizontally in sequence, arranged in a single row along the wall.

Across the series, McDowell builds layered surfaces that move between density and openness, compression and expansion.

The works form a progression through seasonal and atmospheric states, shifting from dense cellular saturation toward more open, networked, and luminous compositions. They draw attention to repeating patterns across biological and natural systems, and to cycles of change, transformation, and renewal.

As described by the artist, the work explores the poetics of materials through research into biology, microscopy, psychology, and neuroscience. Positioned between art and science, it draws on abstraction and lived experience, including illness and trauma, while holding a sense of hope and collective healing during times of instability.

The paintings are inspired by microscopic imagery of human and plant cells, alongside landscapes, seasonal change, stained glass, and geological formations. Layered glazes, texture, and scale evoke interwoven biological structures and micro-organic systems.

The artist builds surfaces using brushes, sponges, drip bottles, rags, and scraping tools, finished with a glossy resin glaze that adds depth and luminosity. Their practice moves between observation and imagination, shaped by collecting photographs, anatomical diagrams, molecular structures, archival material, and medical imaging following an acquired brain injury in 2015.

The first painting, associated with summer, is densely packed with interlocking, irregular forms resembling clustered cells under magnification.

The surface is filled with vivid crimson reds, tangerine oranges, and deep burgundy tones, softened by blush pinks and pale sand-beige forms in contrast.

Raised dotted textures gather across the surface, while translucent layers allow colour to bleed and merge. Fine pale blue lines thread through the composition like vascular traces or electrical pathways.

The impression is warm, compressed, and intensely active.

The second painting shifts into autumnal tones. Bright orange lines branch and weave through the surface, forming an intricate organic network that divides it into irregular, rounded, leaf-like compartments.

Earthy colours of oxidised rusts, golden ochres, soil-browns, and soft sage greens sit alongside plum purples and near-ink black areas.

Forms are more spaced, creating a sense of transition and opening. The surface remains glossy and layered, suggesting shifting systems and seasonal cycles.

The third painting evokes winter. Pale yellow lines form a complex web across a darker ground of faded browns, washed indigos, and bruised violets.

Small dark blue and violet dots are scattered throughout in loose clusters and pairs.

The surface is luminous and layered, with translucent depth and a cooler, more introspective atmosphere.

The final painting evokes spring. It features a softer mosaic of butter yellow, pale apricot, muted coral, and soft sage green, crossed and threaded by deep plum-purple lines that branch and weave across the surface.

Cellular, organic forms gather into fractured, stained-glass-like patterns, held within this interlacing network of dark violet lines.

Translucent layers create brightness and depth, suggesting expansion and renewal.

Together, the four paintings complete the series Infusion; Diffuse.

This is the end of the audio description.

Audio description written, voiced, and produced by Nilgun Guven and Alex Edward of Vitae Veritas.