Tess Jaray

If, in the Solitudes, the subject matter we see is form, geometry, colour and light, then the content seems to be us, our own states of being and experience – the ‘pace’, ‘rhythms’ and ‘instincts’ of life – such that there is very little separation between the picture and ourselves. It is not easy to capture in words the working of the Solitudes (or any of Jaray’s work, for that matter), but my experience of these paintings is that they prompt something to happen: repetition offers transformation, and, as Jaray herself describes, form ‘asserts itself, asks to be born, takes me over, becomes me’.