The sum of its parts
Acrylic on canvas 1x1m.
Melbourne, Australia. 2022.
Kate has been curious to explore the theme of climate change in her art practice for some time,
and it transpired that The Fire Escape/Escape concept fit this subject matter perfectly for her, so
she used the opportunity to finally delve into this urgent topic.
Kate sees ‘the fire escape’ as a way to get out of a bad situation, and she has applied this idea to the climate crisis. When we think about solving the current climate situation and escaping from the potential outcomes of not taking action, it can feel extremely overwhelming and something that is insurmountable; it can be confusing and seem like we as individuals can’t possibly make a
difference. When we consider the whole situation it can look like complete chaos, it is only when
we zoom in and start to break it down into more manageable actions that it becomes less daunting. And when we zoom right in, it’s possible to see some structure in the small actions and decisions we make, which become the building blocks for positive climate outcomes.
To put this into the perspective of The Sum Of Its Parts, Kate decided to use only two colours in
the whole piece, and for these colours to be quite similar so that they clash and are a bit uncomfortable to the eye. She intended for the painting to be somewhat jarring to view at first, but
the more you settle into it the more you can see a pattern, and that many small blocks added together can make a pattern that works. This is to say that even the smallest changes that individuals make are actions that will help the environment, and they have their place within the
bigger picture. As Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. This helps us to
move out of the discomfort, to escape from a potentially terrible situation. The pattern in this
artwork also loosely refers to the shapes you see in a stereotypical fire escape stairwell, which reinforces the initial concept.
BIO. Kate Lambe is a Melbourne-based artist originally from Ireland. She has studied Visual Communications, Photography and Visual Arts. Kate’s art practice encompasses lettering, shapes
and symbols in an abstract manner that deliver messages of personal, social or political capacity, or comment on current issues. Drawing from her experience as a graphic designer, she first works
on paper before refining and resolving the composition on a computer. This imagery is then finally realised in acrylic paint as a tangible form. She works in a very precise way to produce definitive,
unambiguous lines that result in hard-edge abstraction. The colour palette Kate uses is currently
limited to primary and secondary colours, which references what happens when you separate
white light into red, green and blue, and overlap them to create cyan, magenta and yellow. This is
an analogy for separation and re-connection creating a rich spectrum of feelings and sentiments. These colour groups are also deeply rooted in Kate’s background as both a photographer (RGB) and graphic designer (CMYK), and highlight her determination to fuse these skill sets together.
Interested on buying? More info under request at hello@fireescape.art