Art that reveals itself over time at Margate Art Museum

An abstract painting by artist Abi Cansdale is encouraging viewers to slow down and reflect on how human presence and movement can emerge through layered expression.

Cansdale’s artwork is currently on display at the Margate Art Museum as part of the Annual Open Exhibition, which runs until Wednesday, June 25.

Visitors are invited to explore a variety of artworks and discover the stories behind each piece

Titled Watching Strides and created in 2021, Cansdale’s artwork is made using charcoal pencil, gloss medium and acrylic paint on canvas mounted on cardboard. Thick areas of white paint, applied with a palette knife sit over darker forms beneath, giving the surface a textured and worked appearance.

Cansdale describes her process as intuitive and playful rather than planned.

“I don’t generally look when I’m painting,” she said. “I paint for a sense of joy, fun and nowness. The seeing comes later.”Instead of working toward a fixed outcome, she allows the painting to develop naturally over time.

Through this process, subtle figures begin to emerge.

For Cansdale, the artwork suggests a relationship between two forms. “What I see in Watching Strides is a younger figure, like a child, watching an older figure, like a parent or mentor,” she explained. The figures are not clearly defined, allowing viewers to form their own interpretations.

She also references pareidolia, a psychological phenomenon where people recognise familiar patterns, such as faces, in random imagery. Cansdale believes meaning does not need to be immediate. “I’ve learned not to rush into interpretations,” she said.

“I enjoy being present with other people’s experiences, even when they are completely different from my own.”

Rather than presenting a fixed narrative, Watching Strides creates space for reflection and personal connection.

*Article by Sibahle Khowa (Advanced Diploma in Library and Information Studies).

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