The work: Sheelagh McHaffie, Surrender, 2023. White pastel on black Pastelmat paper, 50 x 70cm. Courtesy: the artist.
Surrender by Christchurch-based artist Sheelagh McHaffie beautifully exemplifies the artist’s approach to capturing the human form. To McHaffie, the body is a carrier of meaning, a channel through which one can communicate universalised experiences of emotion. In Surrender, we can see the artist has restricted her palette, the underwater scene picked out in white and grey. “I love the inversion of drawing the light, not the shadow,” says McHaffie, who has here delicately coaxed a female form from the darkness.
Interestingly, as this figure slowly emerged as pastel moved across paper, the artist found that her subject had a mind of her own. McHaffie had intended on portraying a figure pressing forth against an incoming tide, straining against the grip of the water. Instead, she found Surrender. “Her hands are open, her face calm – it is about letting go and trusting that you will be okay.”
While constrained by water, the surface heavy above her head, the figure seems to float easily. Though surrounded by darkness, she shines bright, physically releasing the air pent up within. The scene inspires a feeling of recognition: familiarity with this embodied sense of hope and the joy of being completely free.