Artist Statement
The influences of a childhood roaming through the Australian bush growing up in country NSW and the Blue Mountains along with now living on Sydney Harbour are all evident in my work. I am interested in capturing the feel of a place, flashes of content or a passing glimpse rather than a direct representation. The light, shapes and colours of the Australian landscape are a constant source of inspiration.
Drawing from memory of personal history, observation, imagination and the relationship between shape, colour and form I look to develop a painterly language to explore the tension between abstraction and suggested representation. I work mainly with acrylic paints on stretched linen or canvas allowing the composition to develop organically. This painterly form of abstraction opens all kinds of possibilities for expression and interpretation of imagery and is what keeps me challenged and committed to the process of painting. Music, a song lyric or sometimes just a word or sentiment are also inspiration for my more abstract works.
After many years of painting, experimenting and learning, including classes with some excellent local and international artists, I returned to full time study in 2020 and completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the National Art School, Sydney in 2022. Selected works have been exhibited in a number of Art Prizes, most notably the Mosman and Muswellbrook Art Prize.
My work is held in private collections here in Australia, the USA and UK.
“So many beings, so many things one loves have filled the painter’s life, so many skies, lands, seas have entered us.”
CV
2020-22 - National Art School, Sydney, Bachelor of Fine Arts
2013-2018 - Tony Tozer, Willoughby Arts Centre
Workshops / Masterclasses
2018 - Thibaut de Reimpre, Villeherviers, France
2015 - Idris Murphy - Formal Elements of a Finished Painting, Willoughby Arts Centre
2015 - Idris Murphy and Ross Laurie - Fowlers Gap Fieldtrip
2014 - New York Studio School Summer Marathon - Drawing and painting the Highline with Linda Darling & Joe Santore
Art Prizes/Group Shows
2014-2015-2016-2017-2018-2021 - Ewart Art Prize Finalist - 2017 Entry Highly Commended
2015 - Mosman Art Prize - Finalist
2016-2017-2018-2019 - Hunters Hill Art Prize/Exhibition - Selected Works
2017-2018-2019-2020-2023 - Artists of Mosman 2088 Exhibition - Selected Works
2018 - Northbridge Art Prize - Finalist
2022 - National Art School Sydney, The Grad Show
2023 - The Corner Store Gallery Orange - Inside This Box 2023
2023 - Muswellbrook Art Prize - Finalist, Works on Paper
2023 - SOLO SHOW - Far and Near - The Shop Gallery, Glebe NSW
2024 - Group Show - Nine. Australian Artists in France, aMBUSH Gallery, Waterloo, NSW