Gemma Anderson
On the paper, can't keep, 2026
Oil paint and oil stick on canvas, printed text and coloured pencil on watercolour paper
Dimensions variable
Artist statement
On the paper, can’t keep was produced as a means of revisiting and processing lived experiences. When experiences are suppressed, it can create an internal conflict between what we know and what we allow ourselves to acknowledge. Drawing provides a means of externalising experiences that are difficult to articulate verbally.
In this work, pencil drawing began over printed personal prose to obscure the text, revealing a collection of words that read, “On the paper, can’t keep.” The composition generated by the pencil drawing was then repeated across nine painted canvases using oil stick.
Photographs: Anna Kucera
Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
