Catalogue Essay by David Sharpe, 1989, Hang-Ups Gallery, 91 Musgrave Rd, Red Hill Gallery, Brisbane

Cynthia Breusch 'In the Garden of Many Things'

Cynthia Breusch is one of Queensland's most progressively collectable artists, both in the private and public sectors.

This, her most recent exhibition is one of intensely local flavour, the springboard for the series being her childhood in Brisbane. Prompted by her move to Hobart, she presents a mixture of fantasy and remembered images, ranging from Counting to Ten, (a child is pictured hands covering her face), to the fairies that constitute the cast of Cynthia's memories.

Threaded through the work are elements of Cynthia's previous show, the Dream Series, in that she continues to make the connection between memories and dreams. The exhibition is an invitation to all who view the work to relive their own memories of childhood gardens and the fairies that inhabit them.

The garden is described by the artist as an old metaphor for life, and she goes on to speak of the specifically evocative intention behind the work :

‘The “many things" are the various emotions I want the viewer to feel. My move to Hobart caused me to reflect on my growing up in Brisbane - hence the references to mangoes, lushness and growth of real and imagined gardens ... For example, Playing Your Own Tune is a reference to Queensland primary school days - the heat, cats in the long grass and going home playing aimless tunes on a wooden recorder. This particular image is a very Queensland one, but it's also about "playing your own tune” (being true to yourself), and the joy of aimlessness in childhood. A Mango Afternoon is a portrait of summer, where the very air is the colour of a ripe mango and the heat makes time surreal (mangoes ‘float’). The figure waits. You do a lot of waiting as a child. Waiting for things to happen.’