Less than the breath of children playing, A blasphemy scarce worth the saying
– Rupert Brooke

“Brink” consists primarily of pencil drawings, portraits of young people captured at the exact moments between childhood, adolescence and pending adulthood. These moments in time, so precious and ephemeral, cannot simply be captured by any medium without the distinct hand of an artist who can translate the awareness and emotions related to these states.

Dwyer’s photo realistic renderings remove the subjects from the spatial context in which she has photographed them, emphasising the presence and strength of the figure, thus focusing on figuration and detail as an abstract form. One might look at the exhibition Brink and not equate it with the abstract oeuvre that we’ve come to understand as Angela Dwyer’s work. It is clear that her interest in abstract thought allows her to choose the required form specific to the content, in this case, the loss of youth, the excitement of a new beginning, the tension of these fleeting times. Dwyer is a master of conveying emotion and has once again captured it in the painstakingly perfect drawings that make up this show.

Text by Diana Arce