‘A Series of Yellow Thoughts’, Chloe Noble
8 – 31 October 2021
‘A Series of Yellow Thoughts’ is a portrayal in colour of Noble’s experiences living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and the ego-dystonic, terrifyingly invasive thoughts which encapsulate their mind every day.
Step into their world of yellow, this October at Floating Goose Studios.
Catalogue Essay by Melanie Cooper.
“In the Rider Waite tarot deck, the Sun card signifies happiness and celebration. It is characterized by a large round orb of yellow with a stylized face beaming down upon a child riding a white horse to signal innocence and joy as a trump card in the Major Arcana. Sun flowers stretch their heads up and toward the light it casts down upon the earth, portending good fortune and harmony. Significantly, the Sun card also represents the cultivation of the self, and it is this striking yellow that reappears throughout the cards as one of the key stylistic traits that characterizes the Rider Waite deck. When this card turns up in a reading, it is interpreted as a sign that the Universe will aid progress and positive forward movement. Tarot readers often draw attention to the yellow of the Sun as an emblem of truth and enlightenment, but appearing in the reverse, the same card signals a lack of clarity and setbacks. According to tarot readers, the use of colour as it appears within the cards also provides important clues for interpreting messages from the divine – yellow is the colour of ‘consciousness, joie-de-vivre…’ but also of ‘… envy, mental dissonance (‘shrillness’).’ In the practice of colour psychology, yellow is a mutable colour, susceptible to change and understood as a cautionary sign. Slow down. Wait. Pause. Caution.
This sense of duality is symptomatic also of obsessive-compulsive disorder, where the sufferer repeats acts or behaviours to alleviate stress or neutralize distressing and intrusive thoughts. For instance, compulsive checking inspires distress while it simultaneously calms, bringing a temporary sense of autonomous control and release. Entering the gallery space, we experience an amplified world of yellow, described by the artist as her “brain space.” For Noble, yellow provides relief as something tangible, something that can be used, worn, and applied as a tool of empowerment and reclamation of self. Yellow has become a recognizable sign of Noble’s projected identity she maintains as an integral part of her persona, a positive reclamation in opposition to the inner conflict of obsessive and distressing thoughts that threaten to undermine it. For those of us who know the artist, Noble embodies the positive and illuminating qualities of the Sun card in her playful energy and innocent humour. But she also carries the reverse side of the card in her struggle with OCD when it prevents her from moving forward from one movement or choice to the next. It is the ongoing challenges of managing those thought processes and acts of repetition that hinder her progress from shadow to light, even as she dazzles.
Yellow is one of the brightest and strongest of colours, but it is also one of the hardest colours to wear.”
– Melanie Cooper
Key dates:
Opening event: Friday, October 8, 2021, 6 – 9 pm
Exhibition dates: 8 – 31 October, 2021
Gallery hours: Thursday 12 – 4pm, Friday 12 – 6pm, Saturday 12 – 4pm, Sunday 12 – 4pm
The artist invites you to wear a shade of yellow (if you can) for the opening night event.
Please follow the link to secure tickets for this event: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/a-series-of-yellow-thoughts-chloe-noble-tickets-175193156447
