My painting practice is process-driven, about being in commune with fundamental forces to facilitate a painterly happening. The result is the visual aesthetic thereof, as expressed through the media of paint.
Creativity is often messy, mixed and contradictory. The behaviour of painterly substances when subject to unconventional painting techniques is the foundation of my 30-year art practice.
For the viewer, it’s an invitation to connect with what that evokes. Abstract art not only dialogues in a universal visual language, but also holds the right to trust one's own experience, an asset in any culture.
ARTIST STATEMENT 2021
AESTHETICS OF PROCESS
I am drawn to the age-old medium of paint. There is history in paint fundamental to the beginnings of Art. I find working with paint to be primal, visceral, intimate and filled with potential for expression and observation.
The core intention of my art practice is to facilitate and capture the spontaneous behaviour of paint – to liberate the medium by exposure to unconventional techniques, so that an expanding and unique visual language is revealed.
In the past 30 years, I have chosen to work almost exclusively in a process-driven painting style, engaging pigmented substances as elemental and reactive, presenting with scale, gesture, and action.
At the core is process: subjecting the medium to effects such as density and fluidity, in response to gravity and gradient; and chemical mixing to induce various reactions. What I put onto canvas are painterly happenings, or events, suspended on a 2-dimensional surface.
The inherent synergies at play create visual results that reflect the geographic landscape, geological forms and biological arrangements that lead the viewer on a visual journey. Some of the results evoke a sense of Australia’s extensive and diverse landscape: dry dirt creek beds, cracked and parched surfaces from months of drought; arcs and bends of meandering rivers, flooding of vast plains, the ebb and flow of sandy deserts; and reflective bodies of water that mirror the sun.
Under the regard of the viewer, my art is uniquely processed and given expression. To some, the visual stimuli may translate as cloud formation, aerial landscape, cellular structure, or something cosmic. Others may find that these visual abstractions evoke an emotional response.
I hope experiencing my work elicits something sensory and personal, a desire to reach and touch, respond and dialogue - to celebrate the intimacies paint brings.
EDUCATION/BACKGROUND
1986 Graduated Year 12 with distinctions in both Art Practical and Theory.
1992 Graduated Bachelor of Art, Major Art History - University of Cape Town.
2016 Graduated Advanced Diploma Art Therapy – Ikon Institute of Australia.
1996-2006 Owner-operator of interior design studio and showroom Code Orange Design, in Claremont
1996-2006 Owner operator commercial art gallery Code Red Art, in Claremont Perth,
2006-2011Numerous solo and group art exhibitions with leading art galleries in Australia
2011-2021 Independent representation and collaborations
Private Art Curation and Art Commissions
Private Design contracts
Artwork is represented in prestigious public and private collections, including the Government of Australia, WA; the Anglican Church, Bethesda Hospital.
Corporate commissioned public artworks include 200 St George’s Terrace; 197 St George’s Terrace, Kewdale Central, The Boulevard Hote.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 Independent Exhibition, Bay View Terrace, Claremont.
2019 By invitation at Old Cloisters Building, 200 St Georges Terrace, Independent Artist Gallery. (6-month solo exhibition space)
2017 - 18 Independent Exhibition of current and retrospective work, 428 Hay Str, Subiaco.
2016 - 17 Caroline Christie-Coxon Studio Outlet, Studio124 Collective, Mosman Park
2013 - 14 Independent Artist Gallery, Bayview Terrace, Claremont (6-month solo exhibition space)
2012 - 13 Independent Exhibition, Bayview Terrace, Claremont (6-month solo exhibition space)
2010 – 12 Claremont Creative: Signature Artist at the Art and Design Collective, Leura Ave, Claremont (18-month solo exhibition space)
2012 BMW Super Cars Launch, solo artist by special invitation, BMW Pavilion, Perth
2011 - 12 Independent Artist at The Claremont Gallery Collective, Leura Ave, Claremont (12-month solo exhibition space)
2011 By BMW special invitation, Solo Exhibition at BMW Pavilion, Perth
2010 Axia Modern Art, Armadale, Melbourne.
2010 Elements Art Gallery, Subiaco. ‘Outpourings’.
2008 Harvest, North Fremantle. ‘Delve’.
2007 BMW Masterpiece Launch, feature solo artist, BMW Pavilion, Perth
2006 Elements Art Gallery, Subiaco. ’Slant’.
2006 The Moore’s Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle. ‘Enter’.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Juniper Galleries, WA. ‘Palette’. Including Ayad Alqqaragholli, and select works by the late Robert Juniper.
2021 Staircase Art Gallery Fremantle.
2020 Perth Art UpMarket – Limited Editions launch.
2016 -17 Swings and Round Abouts Gallery, Margret River
2016 Vitale Showcase, Applecross. Private exhibition.
2012 Axia Modern Art/M Contemporary, Melbourne ‘Observation to Inspiration’ with Kate Elsey, Phil Elson and Xiouping Zhou.
2012 Aston Grove, Church Str, Melbourne
2012 Artist in Residence, Week of the Arts, Christchurch
Grammar School
2011 Hale Art Exhibition. Perth
2011 26th Perth College Art Exhibition. Perth
2010 Elements Gallery, Perth. Artitude.
2010 Arq Artworks, Perth. Inspired Collective.
2010 Elements Gallery, Perth. Burswood Exhibition.
2010 Gadfly Gallery, Perth. Kenyan Fund.
2009 St Hilda’s Art Fair, WA artist and galleries event, Perth
2009 Arq Artworks, Perth. Inspired Collective.
2008 Artbox, Sydney.
2008 Fusion Gallery, Mandurah, WA.
2008 ABD Collective Gallery, Northbridge, Perth.
2008 Arq Artworks, Perth. Inspired Collective.
2008 Elements Art Gallery, Subiaco.
2007 The Great Deckchair Auction, Fremantle. Theatre fundraising.
2007 Artitude. Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, Perth.
2007 Elements Art Gallery, group exhibition, Kalgoorlie.
2007 Continuous representation/shows, Elements Art Gallery/Arq Artworks
2007 Tristans Gallery, Perth. Collective.
2006 Tristan's Top 10. Tristan's Gallery, Perth
2006 Artitude. Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, Perth
2006 CelebriArt. Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth
2006 Opening of Tristan’s Gallery, Perth Convention Centre.
2006 Arq Artworks, Perth. Inspired Collective.
2006 Tristan’s at Allandale’s, Perth.
2005 St Hilda’s 22nd Annual Art Exhibition. Tristan's Gallery, Perth
2005 Artitude Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, Perth
2005 Code Red Art, Perth. Heart Foundation Charity