Florette

Florette Series

Borgelt’s geometric forms are intrinsically related to the so-called sacred geometry that has inspired artists and architects from the days of the earliest civilisations. From the pyramids of Egypt to the buddhist mandalas we see geometric form used in a way that is deeply meaningful, invested with an apprehension of the Divine.

In Florette No. 3 Borgelt has created a work with the hypnotic attraction of a mandala – traditionally understood as a diagram or pattern that provides aid to meditation.

Most mandalas contain recognisable imagery, but Borgelt has given us an abstract composition in which the dynamic, interlocking forms mimic the repetitive structure of a plant or a shell. In reproduction the work appears flat but it’s actually convex, bulging out from the wall. Another detail missing from the photograph is a crisp blue line around the circumference which is only visible from the side.

The painstaking precision of the work belies the fact that everything has been made by hand. Borgelt has painted her interlocking segments with a dry brush, almost dusting the pigment onto the surface. Yet traces of the Artist’s hand only become visible when one is able to inspect the work at close quarters. Although Borgelt may admire the possible perfection of geometry, she knows that the visual impact of such a piece depends on her own patient labours.

Instead of working out her designs on a computer screen, Borgelt uses a ruler, a set square and a compass. It’s important to her that these immaculate, transcendental forms are created by the human hand not by a machine. There’s plenty of scope for large-scale fabrication with her public sculptures, but with these wall pieces when the eye discovers the tell-tale traces of the brush it’s as if we have unlocked the most intimate of secrets.

John McDonald, Art Collector, June, 2021

Exhibited in: Weaving the Labyrinth, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne

Exhibited in: Flesh and Bone, Earth and Sky, Christine Abrahams Galley, Melbourne

Exhibited in: Silent Symphony, 2021, Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert