Sydney Harbor Swan

The series entitled Australian Swimming Pools has been a very personal process for Mornington Peninsula-based artist, Belinda “Billy” Nye. After recently completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Visual Culture, Nye found herself obsessed with the private oasis of the backyard. “The Australian Backyard is a place to congregate and a place to retreat. It is a sanctuary.” She continues, “Water has always been a symbol for life. For me, the swimming pool is almost a fountain of life; for relaxation, reflection and clarity.”

The Artwork is from a Series called the "Swimming Pool Series I). The exhibition was held at Manyung Gallery Group Australia. The painting is a circle and if square would measure 76cm x 76cm. Primary colours are turquoise, green and blues. The cabana is white. I made these paintings in a circle with the idea of looking through a window. Houses today are often without as many windows due to the architecture. There is more wall space and often walls or the exterior of the houses back up next to other houses. I created the circle view to the outside swimming pool with that in mind.

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Billy Nye thanks her Australian upbringing for the aesthetic that now dominates her work.
“My work is inspired by the simplicity of the suburban streetscape; the paradise of domesticity. I see beauty in the everyday. I feel that artists David Hockney, Reg Mombassa and Howard Arkley view the mundane world with a similar sense of admiration,”

“After spending decades of my life abroad, I return to the quaint landscape of the Mornington Peninsula in my artistic mind. It has always been, and will remain a uniquely beautiful location to me; associated with nostalgia, but also brimming with potential for the future.

“These seemingly ordinary landmarks: swimming pools, houses, fences, powerlines and suburban streets, are scenes of home. I don’t feel the need to travel anymore, as my own backyard serves as my private oasis. To me, there is no place like Australia.”