COLOURMANIA
We have wanted to create a MiNDFOOD Colour Edition for a long time and during the cold, rainy season of winter, we thought, ‘There’s no better time to embrace colour in all parts of life.’ As an international visual language across global communities, colour coding is now used for everything from pharmaceuticals to transport systems, electrical wiring and safety information, political parties and sexual preference. Our story about the Psychology of Colour on page 26 is fascinating as it explores the world around us and the feelings and emotions that certain colours can cause.
This year I was commissioned to be part of a group art show at the Hawthorn Arts Centre in Melbourne. It is the largest painting I have created to date, coming in at six metres long and two metres high. The name of the show is Above the Canopy, and celebrates the diverse beauty of the Australian environment.
Drawing underpins all my work and I am constantly reworking shapes and compositions and redrawing to get to the final stage of the painting. Most of my drawing comes from the field – from walks and trips away and from taking photos of patterns, colours and plant forms that I think I may use at some stage for future work. Some drawings start by looking at plant shapes that are extinct, while other varieties may hold a nucleus from DNA found centuries ago. No one plant ever makes it through to a final painting without being manipulated and enhanced in some way. These reimagined plant forms blooming in a riot of colour invite the viewer to take part in a kaleidoscopic world where they can decide if these plants actually exist or are in fact products of my imagination, creating my own botanical language.
I work in acrylic as it dries faster than oils, and allows me to overpaint and add detail while immersed in the process of painting the canvas. I often start with layers of paint for the background colour and cover the entire canvas and then, referencing my drawings, I begin the process of painting in the composition. Once the main shapes are in place with colour, technique and pattern, I begin using macro and micro detail as each plant form transforms and begins to really float across the canvas. From there I look at the finer, smaller forms and connecting pieces that bring each plant form together ... perhaps through spinning, whirling vines running throughout the painting. The painting on show in Melbourne is called ‘Swimming in the Clouds’ – it celebrates colour within nature as plant forms float away and down throughout the canopy.
Colour celebrates nature and in my world, I want to bring the viewer joy, to smile and enjoy the work, and for a moment, forget everything else that is going on in their lives.
“PLANT FORMS FLOAT AWAY AND DOWN INTO THE CANOPY.”