A Tactile Experience

on
As I wrap and pack drawings and paintings away, ready to move back to Queensland, I find myself stopping to wonder over artworks that show the journey of where I have been; between archived works and art that has yet to find its owner, there is a heady experience of love emanating from every piece; everything from half-drawn sketches and doodles to fully finished works - there is an incredible tangible experience of love. 
Detail from unfinished composition.


As an artist, you often ask yourself what your legacy will be, what the body of work will hold in the future, what the outcome of your efforts and devotion will result in - not even halfway through my career, after 25 years, and it is already apparent that, no matter what stage I'm going through, no matter what the developments, no matter what the intellectual and philosophical propose, there is a wealth and harvest of all this love. It's in everything, as though I am in  the presence of someone else's life.

What translates in the physical is this astonishing energetic reality  - to behold an artwork that I don't even recall doing, (there has been so much done over the years, it's hard to keep track), and I am in awe of this intense physical sensation of commitment and passion; it's in the materials, in the strokes, in the shades and colours. Even in the art that I remember working on, there's this strange and palpable connection with the process that is evident in the finished work.

 "Burn" First draft


The virtual world robs the audience of this experience - what is seen on a fast scrolling screen is nothing in comparison to the reality. I've had many clients and local fans comment on this - the digital can never do the real thing justice. It can only create an impression. 

But in real life - the softness of shade, and the harmony of the gradients, the small physical details that escape the notice of a mechanical eye, the deepest romance in the tones of graphite, the care with which paint has been mixed and laid down gently - all of this is only present in a physical reality, and the difference in impact is so apparent. Even to the artist. 

"Charmed" early work