Betra Fraval, Beam, 2015, oil on linen, 91 x 81cm

OPENING DRINKS: FRIDAY 13 NOVEMBER, 6PM
EXHIBITION: 6 NOVEMBER – 5 DECEMBER, 2015

“It is just one small step from Earth-matter to Space-light. A leap or a take-off able to free us for a moment from gravity.” — Paul Virilio

Betra Fraval is a UK-born, Melbourne-based artist whose installation and painting practice explores the transient nature of all forms. Fraval’s works explore moments when grand monuments fade and dissolve. Her delicate imagery portrays softly rendered ruptures and disconnections.

For her solo exhibition at Anna Pappas Gallery, Fraval will present an installation where the viewer can interact with a central sculpture, as well as a series of works on paper and canvas. The installation explores forces that direct human experiences and interactions with the world. Driven by Fraval’s intense curiosity, her work unites art, science and subjective experiences.

Our everyday lives are a performance, held in place by the hidden structure of perceived safety, and against the ever-present awareness of time. An attempt to take flight, together with elements of the trapeze – an apparatus ready for playful performance – is a recurring theme in the work. Our trust is placed in the invisible net, waiting below.

Graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Melbourne Australia in 2014, Fraval was the recipient of the annual Galloway Lawson Prize for Excellence; Tolarno Art Prize; The Maude Glover Flea Award; and The Seventh Gallery Exhibition Grant (Making Space ARI Festival 2007). She was shortlisted for the Elisabeth Murdoch Traveling Fellowship in 2009 and received a residency at Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi, India. Selected solo exhibitions include: The Rope Doesn’t Hang, The Earth Pulls, 2015, Five Walls, Melbourne; Still Remains, 2013, c3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne; The Dead Trees Gives No Shelter, 2012, Linden New Art, Melbourne; Unstable Ground, 2008, Victoria Park Gallery, Melbourne. Selected group exhibitions include McClelland Sculpture Prize, 2014,McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, Langwarrin; Disappear, 2011, Kings ARI, Melbourne; A4 Art, 2011 West Space, Melbourne and Forged, 2010, Trocadero Gallery, Melbourne.