Unpopular Penguin 673

In 2022 I had a residency at the Grafton Regional Gallery, and created these paintings there to be part of the group show 'Inland See', a curation of contemporary art by NSW artists. During the residency I created works that stemmed from my existing body of work - in this case the Unpopular Penguin series - but I had the opportunity to stretch them in new ways, in terms of colours, compositions and materials. Creating a body of work for a show at a non-commercial gallery was a welcome opportunity.

For this particular painting, I built up layers of mixed media on a cradled wooden board - pages from books, with drawings and monoprints, that were then painted over with acrylic paints. I wanted to create a richness and depth of imagery and texture.

This painting has a satin varnish. The surface is heavily textured, with its elements of collage and layers of paint and sealer. The sides are unpainted timber, and the artwork can be framed or hung as-is, such as in the photos.

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Painter from the Blue Mountains. I've had paintings in the Sulman Prize 2012‚ Mosman Prize 2012‚ Calleen Art Prize 2013‚ Gallipoli Art Prize 2014 & 2016, Gosford Art Prize 2018 & 2018, the ANL Maritime Art Prize 2018 and the 2019 Hawkesbury Art Prize (winner). In the last nine years I've had a lot of success with abstract paintings, drawing inspiration from the covers of 'Popular Penguin' paperback books, from the classic Monopoly board, Uno cards, and other pop culture icons. The paintings are distorted representations of the subject matter, transformed with thick brushstrokes and often random lettering, retaining the essence of the original but also becoming something new. I have had sell out shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. My art has been featured in Art Edit magazine, The Grand Designs Australia Sourcebook and the Financial Review. PLEASE NOTE - commissions now closed for 2024. Thank you!