RIVER COUNTRY: CHAOS & ORDER
The river has always been an important part of my life. My childhood experiences on the Georges River in southern Sydney remind me why sensory experiences of one’s environment are so crucial at any age. As children we were free to explore the sensuousness of low tide in bare feet: oh, the ooziness of mud and the spikiness of mangroves and the eccentric movement of crabs!
My studio now is on a small farm in a Blue Mountains valley west of Sydney. It is surrounded by the Cox’s River and a variety of trees, both native and introduced. The trees point to a human presence both indigenous and non- indigenous over thousands of years. My daily walk follows a cattle trail past a dam, the river and clumps of trees. As I become physically attuned to changes in the topography of the land, I notice the textural and tonal details of grasses, rocks, trees and water. The sky is visually connected with the land through reflections in rivers and dams.
Layering is an integral part of my process and mirrors the geological formations in the valley where I live. When I scratch through layers of paint with rags or scrapers I’m rewarded with unexpected combinations of colour and texture. In some of my works, pre-prepared collage papers provide a surprising accent of colour or tonal contrast. Working on several paintings at the same time allows me to tease out compositional issues as well as different colour combinations.
The title of this exhibition refers to “the messiness” of the Australian landscape due to the recurrence of wind, rain, drought and bushfires which regularly dismantle the semblance of order in the landscape. Signs of human intervention such as fences and gates are attempts to impose order on the chaos of nature. These geometric elements contrast with the more organic lines and forms of the Australian landscape.
