LATEST
To Approach the Unknowable–Curated exhibition at the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery
I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be exhibiting in a curated group exhibition at the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery titled
‘To Approach the Unknowable’ opening Sat 1 Nov 2-4pm .
This exhibition brings together four Australian contemporary artists whose works, guided by a surrealist inclination, engage in a fascinating dialogue with personal ideas and with works selected by the artists themselves from the Hassall Collection. The juxtaposition creates a rich exploration of the surrealist inspiration within the Australian context.
The exhibition title is taken from a 1976 poem by Australian artist James Gleeson in which he states:
The aim of Art
is to approach the unknowable;
and the only approach
is by way of the known, to use it
as a springboard.
The exhibition features works by James Gleeson, Peter Booth, Sidney Nolan, Joy Hester and Louise Hearman - artists whose imaginative force continues to resonate deeply within Australian art.
🗓️ Please join us on Saturday 1 November, 2–4pm
for the opening of the exhibition.
✨ To be officially opened by Simon Weir
Artist and Academic Sydney School of Architecture, Design & Planning, The University of Sydney
The artists will be present.
RSVP appreciated
📍 Grace Cossington Smith Gallery
✨ Works generously lent from the Hassall Collection
ABOUT MY WORK
As I create, sculpt, construct, paint, draw, print, collage or experiment in mixed media, I think of my work and process as a crystal ball conversation about life and the human condition. The unearthing of experiences, the sifting of my psyche and my emotional response to the world around me exposes a multilayered and multifaceted way of seeing and feeling, a process of realisation.
Anything can inspire me, as I work from a variety of sources conjuring portraits, landscapes or objects working in diverse mediums and approaches that intersect with art history and culture. I delve into the unknown, into memories and lived experiences in search of a more poetic understanding of the universe. My adventure, a magical mystery tour, where my angels and demons converse on topics regarding the physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological structure of things as well as life’s full spectrum of tenses, past, present and future.
This is how approach my every day and every artwork. Some days I love it, some days I want to strangle it, kick it before it kicks me. Some days it beats me up and pummels my insides to a pulp. But I choose to carry on, I survive, I let it flow, those fragments and elements of material forming connective sinews to my thorny soul. I make art so it teaches me about my place in the world, what I am and where I am going. In turn, I wish to lure others closer to this experience of my crystal ball wonder.
Using my subconscious to discover my subterranean voice, I hone and master connections between personal and universal, life and existential themes. The resulting works, often a surreal reflection of my inner being, can appear as hybrids of shifting parts, or psychic montages and troves of ambiguity and enigma, making visible the intimate and elusive qualities of the shape of my thinking, to give form to our fragile ever-changing world.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
I am honoured to have been invited to take part in the PLC Artist in Residence program. The annual Artist-in-Residence program connects Visual Arts at PLC Sydney with industry practitioners. To date, the College has welcomed some of Australia's most respected contemporary artists on the Year 11 Visual Arts Camp at Bundanon; each inspirational in sharing their art practice and approaches to depicting the Australian landscape. Video by Hugh Clark. Read more >
PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR
I'm thrilled to have been approached by Foxtel Arts to feature in their launch campaign alongside two other respected Australian portrait artists for 'Portrait Artist Of The Year - Season 4 Launch'. Don't miss the series beginning on Tuesday 14 August 2018 on Foxtel Arts or stream On Demand.
