Lin Barrie Art- Burnt Offerings 2023- art and poems

My own Poetry accompanies my paintings as part of the Burnt offerings collection, many of which are physically exhibited at “Burnt Offerings, Re-Invention, Taking Flight” exhibition Pikicha Gallery, Harare and will remain viewable on line

Burnt Offerings – art and poems

“A Kite, with a broken string, has all the sky……”

acrylic and collage on stretched canvas 120 x 91 cm (4 x 3 feet) plus black string and fabric ties 10 metres, plus acrylic on looses draped canvas 91 x 120 cm (3 x 4 feet)

(Carnelian Heart Publishers – poem to be published in an anthology)

A Kite, with a broken string, has all the sky……

These artworks reflect my musings on our human condition; brokenness, depression, frailty, isolation, mental health, ill health, abusive relationships ……. and the ability we have to rise above ourselves, take strength, be inventive and fly high particularly in times of stress.

The artworks are a play on the image of a paper kite flying free with a broken string, owning the sky and no longer constrained by a hand that holds it back, and also a yellow-billed kite which is a seasonal local migrant in Zimbabwe, its arrival heralding the true start of the summer months after a cold dry winter…

I hope that my art embraces THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING, RISING ABOVE CIRCUMSTANCE, to ‘take flight’, to re-invent oneself, to make connection with the bigger picture… Our creativity, our faith and our empathy allows us to take flight, find our potential.

Flight is a powerful theme for me, in flight, as in my draped canvas, which soars off the wall away from the kite on the stretched canvas, leaping upwards towards the unknown, towards opportunity…

A kite with a broken string has all the sky,

no constraint, no boundaries.

A tessera, a ticket, a pass

to flight, freedom, adventure.

To Life.

The broken strings in our lives

may seem ill ordained, untimely

desperately unsettling…

and yet those very broken strings free us.

We fly from ourselves

to ourselves,

in ways unimagined,

unlooked for,

and all the more precious

as we float free.

Lin Barrie

“Abstract Burnt Offerings”

acrylic on loose canvas, 260 x 180 cm

Ashes,

asemic cinders,

drift……

as ethereal

as the dancing human form

that echoes them.

Floating free,

scribing marks

on the canvas

of our minds.

Lin Barrie

“Abstract Fire Frass diptych, 1 and 2”,

acrylic on canvas, 145 x 120 cm and 145 x 39 cm

After a burn..

what’s left?

After flames

and pain..

what’s left?

After destruction

drug abuse

death or divorce

what’s left?

After life

sacrifice

living for others

lying to yourself

what’s left?

Nothing is left

but you, in the present,

but you, in the presence

but you, in the knowing

but you in the belief…

so pick yourself up post apocalypse.

Feel the gentle whisper,

see the soft fragments

as fire frass floats unfettered

to land on your skin.

Embrace yourself,

trace the sooty smudges.

It no longer burns.

Lin Barrie

Asemic Ashes 1

acrylic calligraphy, asemic inscriptions on loose canvas, 90 x 130 cm

Asemic Ashes 2

acrylic calligraphy, asemic inscriptions on loose canvas, 90 x 107 cm

Asemic Ashes 3

acrylic calligraphy, asemic inscriptions on loose canvas, x90 x 130 cm

Asemic Ashes 4

acrylic calligraphy, asemic inscriptions on loose canvas, 90 x 107 cm

Asemic Ashes;

smoke calligraphy,

swirls of fancy,

rise in flight

as I write,

traverse,

and scribe

my canvas.

Blank white

gives way

to shades

of grey.

Lin Barrie

Beautiful Brutal 1,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 61 x 61 cm

Beautiful Brutal 2,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 61 x 61 cm

Beautiful Brutal 3,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 61 x 61 cm

Beautiful Brutal 4,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 61 x 61 cm

Beautiful Life

Brutal Struggle

The tie that binds, or

the wire that strangles?

A strange hata,

supporting the pots

of our culture,

the springs

of our wellness.

Beautiful Struggle

Brutal Life

Lin Barrie

Birds Burnished, (three little birds), triptych,

mixed media on stretched canvas, each 60 x 60 cm

Burnished birds

bronzed and brazen

take flight,

brushing softly

the heavy air.

Stirring,

sleep sodden

yet rising

effortlessly

in the currents

of my

morning mind

Lin Barrie

plus “every little thing” lyrics Bob Marley

Three Little Birds Bob Marley

Don’t worry about a thing

‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright

Singing’ don’t worry about a thing

‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright

Rise up this mornin’

Smiled with the risin’ sun

Three little birds

Pitch by my doorstep

Singin’ sweet songs

Of melodies pure and true

Saying’, this is my message to you

Singing’ don’t worry ’bout a thing

‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright

Singing’ don’t worry ’bout a thing

‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright

Bright Sky, Burnt Offering; Zimbabwe Bird

Acrylic/charcoal on stretched and draped canvas

70 x 70 cm, plus draped canvas to 165 x 85 cm

From fire to phoenix;

Zimbabwe bird

burnt offering

battered body

You reinvent yourself;

Beating worn wings

into bright sky

above the burn.

Skirted by

a tongued tail,

you trail flames

deftly, defiantly.

A Phoenix rising…

Lin Barrie

Burnt Offerings, Mutsvairo, (Elite Interiors)

Mutsvairo

my broom

A new broom sweeps clean.

But the old one

makes for

interesting

marks.

Lin Barrie

Detail – creating brush marks, ‘sweeping’, with my plant fibre broom, my ‘mutsvairo’……..

My Mutsvairo …

Taking palm fronds.

Sweeping the earth free of footprints,

free of yesterday.

Gone are thoughts …

worries, regrets.

creating a blank canvas potential just for today

Sweeping my hearth free of dusty regrets,

stale cinders, yesterday’s meals.

Retaining only the gentle embers

of remembrance

of anticipation

of gratefulness….

to fan anew a fierce fire

Burnt protea, 1,

charcoal and acrylic on box framed canvas, A3 size plus frame,

Burnt proteas, 2

charcoal and acrylic on box framed canvas, A3 size plus frame,

Burnt protea, 3

charcoal and acrylic on box framed canvas, A3 size plus frame,

Scorched by heat

licked by flame

as the fire fans

itself

on the altar

of nature.

Powerless

against

that elemental force

yet the proteas,

in all that

brutal blaze,

bear hope

bear the blackened seeds

of a new generation

of rebirth

rejuvenation

LIFE

Lin Barrie

Caged culture and the snail shell,

mixed media on loose canvas, 193 x 180 cm

Fires primeval

harnessed and tamed

in a snail shell…

Nurturing the needs

of hungry man;

Creating vessels of clay

and the elemental

warmth of a hearth.

Lin Barrie

Caged Culture

Wire cage, clay pot and giant African land snail shells on a table..

stand 80 cm height + cage 70 cm height x 60 cm diameter

a caged mind

cast off culture

clay pot

shell totems

bound by

tremulous

yet constricting

wire strands…

Lin Barrie

Clay poto and snare wire hata with Simbi Shells

Installation 1

Clay poto and snare wire hata with Simbi Shells

Installation 2

Snare wire;

a deadly hata,

yet it provides the meat

to fill the pot

and nurture the belly

of the beast.

Lin Barrie

Dare to Dream,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 61 x 61 cm

Dare to dream

in technicolor

waves of emotion

unfettered

by convention

Lin Barrie

Embrace Equity,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 150 x 200 cm

(Carnelian Heart Publishers – to be published in an anthology and image on front cover)

Embrace Equity…

Released

uplifted

earth-supported

battered by time

empowered by age

I have dreamed;

I have traced tree trunks;

I have stared at torsos;

I have envisaged Golgotha.

All Things Connected.

Lin Barrie

Emergence I, monotype,

acrylic and charcoal on brown paper, framed

Emergence:

from the fire and ashes of hurts and travails

which crouch, unbidden,

at our hearths;

which lodge,

unasked for,

in our hearts….

Lin Barrie

Emergence 2, monotype,

acrylic and charcoal on brown paper, framed

Emergence:

from a dark cocoon of errant emotion

which envelops us;

which wraps our past,

clouds our present,

taints our future….

Lin Barrie

“Emergence 1 and 2”

monotypes, acrylic and charcoal on paper, two versions, same story –published in Writing Women Anthology 2023

Emergence,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 150 x 180 cm (143 x 175 cm stretched)

Blue sky above

as you unfold;

emerge from the dark,

feel the cellophane strength of

your crumpled, would-be wings.

Stretch and shiver,

rustle your new feathers

and let yourself lift.

Just a leap upwards,

a bounce of faith into thin air

to feel the turquoise wind

beneath your wings.

Lin Barrie

Fire Flight or Fight,

acrylic on draped canvas, 250 cm wide

Fire to speed us

challenge us..

Flight to free us

release us..

Fight to inflame us

empower us..

Lin Barrie

Flight diptych

mixed media on stretched canvas, each is 76 x 50,5 cm

Flight

(an opera by Jonathan Dove)

Where are we flying from,

and where to?

Where will we alight

between those two spaces?

What world inhabit,

what airport,

what diaspora…

Lin Barrie

Flight Station 1

mixed media on stretched canvas

A4, 30 x 21 cm

Flight Station 2

mixed media on stretched canvas

A4, 30 x 21 cm

Flight Station 3

mixed media on stretched canvas

A4, 30 x 21 cm

Ground control to major tom…

David Bowie

Flight Station to Lin Barrie…

From Baobabs to Torsos; triptych,

mixed media on stretched canvas, each A3 size

Trees to torsos

twist and turn,

yearn and stretch

for high sky above.

Burnt offerings

on this hill

of Golgotha

Lin Barrie

From Baobabs…. triptych

mixed media on stretched canvas, each is A3 size

Chitake sentinels,

Mana monuments.

Sacred site

of memories…

crossing cultures

and embracing

human frailty

Lin Barrie

Giant African Land Snails, shells after a fire,

acrylic on canvas, diptych, 2 x 2 feet and 2 x 3 feet

Spiralled survivor

turned to porcelain

in the afterburn

of a wildfire.

Deceptively delicate

shell enduring…

Lin Barrie

For my blog on shells and snare wire:

Snare Wire and Snail Shells; Conservation and Culture meets Art….

Giant Land Snail Shell 1,

acrylic and earth pigment, on stretched canvas, 20 x 20 cm

Giant Land Snail Shell 2,

acrylic and earth pigment, on stretched canvas, 20 x 20 cm

Giant Land Snail Shell 3,

acrylic and earth pigment, on stretched canvas, 20 x 20 cm

ground hornbill portrait,

mixed media on board framed burnt leadwood frame, 58 x 46 cm

Hornbill and Diamond,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 120 x 80 cm

Dendera and Diamond;

Diamonds and Dust.

Zimbabwe Bird

rise up,

ruffle your wings

lift your head

take flight…

Lin Barrie

Kite Flight,

acrylic on canvas, 61 x 61 cm

Kite Flight

Making marks

feeling feathers

being bird…

Kite Flight

My canvas soars,

takes flight,

becomes a yellow-billed kite…

Lin Barrie

Portrait Burnt Offerings,

mixed media on stretched canvas,

84,5 x 60 cm

The power of entrapment

is yours to use

or resist.

Bow your head

give of yourself,

submit.

Feel the tension…

Freedom is a state of mind

constrained not only

by physical boundaries

but by your mind.

Lin Barrie

Portrait Re-invention,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 84,5 x 60 cm

The power of flowers

nature sublime

is yours.

Close your eyes

still your mind

inhale.

Smell the scent…

Purple pods of pleasure drift

a re-imagined landscape

Jacaranda haze

Lin Barrie

Portrait, Taking flight,

mixed media on stretched canvas, 84,5 x 60 cm

(Carnelian Heart Publishers -to be published in an anthology and image on front cover)

The power of birds,

wings and things,

is yours.

Close your eyes

tilt your head,

just breathe.

Feel the lift….

Soft feathers tickle tear-tracked cheeks;

kind claws without scratching

scrape hurt from bruised skin;

birdsong without singing

fills your anxious ears.

Lin Barrie

Portrait 1,