Inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’s faux-medieval bestiary Book of Imaginary Beings, this collaboration with pianist-composer Prach Boondiskulchok explored topics of transformation, symmetry, destiny, as my paintings and prints echoed Prach’s compositions responding to the colours and shapes of the music intertwined with the narrative of the texts.

The Exhibition – Piano Recital was introduced by guest curator Angus Broadbent. During the exhibition of the works Prach gave a premiere performance of his three compositions.

“When asked by an artist and a composer to talk about their work and Louis Borges, give up and wade in. Because he would. He would enjoy the playfulness, the endless optionality; he would enjoy the layered quality of the narrative switching from one plane of understanding to another. He would enjoy the consanguineous working of two artists working in separate fields sharing a common source for their work. […] Borges would enjoy The Symmetry of the Devil; an artist one side, a composer the other – each tearing away at the stories to their own art form. He would enjoy Prach’s piece The Devil of Symmetry where the hands mirror each other’s every movement […]; Geraldine bringing monsters to life by the touch of her fingers or working with two hands on one print (itself a mirror art form – where her marks are inverted on the plate) and the creation of the Tao Tie print. One bridge between Prach’s and Geraldine’s work that transposes the sound of Prach’s piece Tao Tie into a physical remnant of his finger movements. In this there is a literalness about the collaboration.”

“The mirror glass of the Borges’ stories is impenetrable; the composer and artist stand at different sides of the mirror. The music stands complete and independent; the prints wholly within their plate borders. This collaboration has shared the scaffolding of the Borges stories but now the scaffolding has been removed. Although perhaps there is something left behind and shared. Borges’ biographer Williamson says that ‘his basic contention was that fiction did not depend on the illusion of reality; what mattered ultimately was an author’s ability to generate “poetic faith” in his reader’. You may agree that both artists have generated that for us tonight.”

Angus Broadbent, May 2018