Written by Anna Itkonen
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Bridget Bradley’s journey as an artist started as a child when she would watch her mother paint, and she followed her mother’s creative passion. Even though her art and creativity were encouraged and celebrated in her childhood, it was not until a global pandemic and the changes that came with global lockdowns that drew her back into painting.
Bridget Bradley
“Like many others, the effects on my mental health and well-being were significant. To calm my mind during the uncertainty, I remember picking up a paintbrush one day, and from that moment, I painted prolifically. The spare room [in my parents’ house] in Hong Kong was quickly turned into my art studio. Painting became a healthy outlet to express my deepest emotions onto the canvas.”
Artwork: Labyrinth | 91 x 91cm, Mixed media on canvas
Bridget is a contemporary abstract expressionist who works predominantly on the studio floor with acrylics on canvas or at her desk on paper. In addition to acrylics, she also uses mixed media, pen and graphite pencil. For her, art is all about texture and colour, which form her unique visual language. Her artworks vary from chaotic, heavily textured, often dark themes to vivid colours and neon contrasts.
“My paintings depend on my emotions, the energy and mood at the time because I paint in the moment. My stories unfold along the journey.”
Artwork: Labyrinth II | 91 x 91cm, Mixed media on canvas
Bridget’s creative process is intuitive, fluid and free, with no pre-planning and restrictions. “I use action painting, drip painting, and other techniques I have developed to convey the emotional energy of my experience, perception, feeling, or memory. As I continue to experiment with colour and texture, my expressions are evolving. Drawing is something I’ve also enjoy creating as with my other art, it is meditative. My most recent graphite drawing is ‘Nature’s Nymph’ which was recently exhibited in Brisbane.”
Bridget brings out Space Rock, Alien, Satellite and the Butterfly Series when asked about artworks with special meaning or significance. Space Rock, Alien, (both sold to an overseas collector), and Satellite were all painted spontaneously with contrasting, bold colours and plenty of texture and are deeply rooted in her childhood. These artworks reflect childhood conversations around the dinner table about space and spending time in an observatory with her dad, an astrophysicist, after he acquired the first measurements of a newly discovered comet.
Artwork: Satellite | 91 x 122cm, Acrylic on canvas
“Recently, I was fortunate to attend the opening night of Wild Things exhibition at the Art Lovers Australia Melbourne gallery where I am exhibiting both Labyrinth and Labyrinth II. Both paintings are heavily layered and textures in vibrant and contrasting colours; Labyrinth embraces the uncertainty of life and invites you to reflect on its twists and turns. While creating Labyrinth II, invites you into an emotional world, a labyrinth of emotions which are expressed with colour, layers and movement.”
For Bridget, creativity creates a connection to others and conveys energy, beauty and light into their lives. She explores her inner world of raw, unexpressed emotions, experiences or memories through her art. Emotions, sounds, colours and energy, whether her own or others, have always been amplified for her. And it is all to be found on her canvases: her admiration for Jackson Pollock, memories and experiences from her travels and cultures she has seen, her love for colour, the mindset built by yoga, psychology and nature and the ability to stay still and take it all in.
Bridget Bradley’s artworks are currently on display as part of the Wild Things exhibition at Art Lovers Australia’s Collingwood Gallery.
Until 2nd May
ART LOVERS AUSTRALIA GALLERY | MELBOURNE
300 Wellington St., Collingwood Victoria 3066
10am – 4pm | Tues. – Sat.
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