Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, we are a rhythm machine, that's what we are. - Mickey Hart ”
This latest body of work represents a return to my love of drumming and dance. I have always been interested in the way simple rhythms and beats can make people move, feel and connect to one another. Drumming is a universal language that cultivates a space for commonality where music and dance can connect in times of separation and conflict.
In the past few years I had lost sight of these ideas, and was feeling disconnected from my body, to nature and my community. But recent experiences served as a powerful reminder, which led me to explore and learn more about these archetypal elements. For instance, how rhythm is built into us from birth, our heartbeats the original rhythm, enabling babies to dance before they can walk. How it is being used to heal both mind and body, and is a cornerstone of celebration and protest amongst worldwide communities throughout history.
I see a parallel between our bodies and the landscape, in particular coastal rock formations. Built up, condensed and worn down over time by the ocean with its unceasing rhythms, similarly our bodies, both internally and externally, accumulate and are shaped by our experiences. I wanted the forms to be somewhat ambiguous, somewhere between earth and flesh. Landforms have been drawn under each work as a base.” Hugh Van Schaick is an artist living and working on Gadigal and Wangal Lands. This is Van Schaick’s first solo exhibition at China Heights gallery.