| 1.
Why I paint from Nature.
“I came to see Nature
rather late in life” - Paul Cézanne
Although I am aware of how far beyond the bounds of
art-world fashion it is, I like to paint and draw from
nature, that is, from the visible world that surrounds
us.
The sheer impossibility of doing this in a fresh and
authentic way pushes me beyond the boundaries of my
habitual thoughts and abilities. Thus I paint in order
to discover what my work is about and not the other
way round. I do not like to paint from preconceived
theories or programs.
In the last few years I have been painting what could
be called ‘urban landscapes’. I am inspired
by places where the manmade coexists with the natural,
for example, the moored fishing boats and ancient Cypress
Pines at Mordialloc (in Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne).
|
I do not wish these images to have a nostalgic or anecdotal
connotation. Rather, by finding visual rhymes and harmonies
between the abstract and the organic forms, to suggest
ways in which our human culture can harmoniously coexist
with the Natural life that surrounds and sustains us.
In retrospect, I find that my work is often compelled
towards a state of luminous equilibrium. This is not
a conscious or premeditated choice. Visually, it is
the equivalent to that state of fertile stillness that
can be reached through deep meditation.
Beyond all theory and conceptualising, painting for
me is an utterly mysterious, non-verbal dialogue between
perception, feeling and paint. At its best- André
Dunoyer de Segonzac speaks of “a state of grace”-
a kind of magic can take over and the brushes, paint
and canvas seem to be speaking all by themselves. When
this happens -it is rare- it is the purest happiness
I know.
|
