Earth
The paintings in the "Earth" gallery form part of my new exhibition that is running from June 29 till July 23 at Braemar Gallery, Springwood NSW.
My art is about rocks and the underlying geological forces that have shaped, and continue to shape, the earth. It is evolution from a mineral perspective.
Some markers of this process are external - volcanoes, chasms, cliffs, uplift and scattered tuff. Others are hidden and so slow moving as to be imperceptible in our concept of time.
The initial focus for this series was volcanoes, begun after a trip to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands – a bleak, beautiful island of 300 extinct volcanoes. At the same time I began planning a trek to Everest base camp, with much of the training undertaken in the Blue Mountains.
On the 25th April 2015 my companions and I were two days walk below base camp, on the return journey. We had participated in an Anzac Day service in the snow at Thukla Pass just after dawn that morning. It was a very quiet and moving experience in an extraordinary place. Dozens of cairns dot the pass in memory of mountaineers and Sherpas who have perished on Everest. It was a somber reminder of the intrinsic danger of the beautiful mountains.
Four hours later we experienced the devastating Nepalese earthquake.
The paintings I did after the earthquake are my attempt to depict visually my own emotional upheaval.
Some time in that period I realized that the line between the inorganic and organic worlds is blurred, as demonstrated by the indiscriminate destruction of both mountains and people. The rocks in my paintings often appear fluid, fleshy and anthropomorphic. It is a symbol of a shared fate.
When I began this series of paintings I was attempting to depict the earth’s forces from the safety of distant time. That idea was literally upended by my personal experience and I shifted focus. The ground is not as solid as I thought.
But I am still in awe of mountains.
My art is about rocks and the underlying geological forces that have shaped, and continue to shape, the earth. It is evolution from a mineral perspective.
Some markers of this process are external - volcanoes, chasms, cliffs, uplift and scattered tuff. Others are hidden and so slow moving as to be imperceptible in our concept of time.
The initial focus for this series was volcanoes, begun after a trip to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands – a bleak, beautiful island of 300 extinct volcanoes. At the same time I began planning a trek to Everest base camp, with much of the training undertaken in the Blue Mountains.
On the 25th April 2015 my companions and I were two days walk below base camp, on the return journey. We had participated in an Anzac Day service in the snow at Thukla Pass just after dawn that morning. It was a very quiet and moving experience in an extraordinary place. Dozens of cairns dot the pass in memory of mountaineers and Sherpas who have perished on Everest. It was a somber reminder of the intrinsic danger of the beautiful mountains.
Four hours later we experienced the devastating Nepalese earthquake.
The paintings I did after the earthquake are my attempt to depict visually my own emotional upheaval.
Some time in that period I realized that the line between the inorganic and organic worlds is blurred, as demonstrated by the indiscriminate destruction of both mountains and people. The rocks in my paintings often appear fluid, fleshy and anthropomorphic. It is a symbol of a shared fate.
When I began this series of paintings I was attempting to depict the earth’s forces from the safety of distant time. That idea was literally upended by my personal experience and I shifted focus. The ground is not as solid as I thought.
But I am still in awe of mountains.