At just over a metre high, this original watercolour painting on mounted paper subverts expectations of the traditionally genteel medium, transforming a collectible children’s toy garden into a larger-than-life contemporary landscape.
Based on a much-loved plastic garden toy, the floating bed becomes a fragment of lost childhood, suspended within an imaginary garden where planting holes remain ready for the next round of make-believe garden design. The painting surface itself becomes a playground for spontaneous mark-making, balancing simplified forms with expressive painterly gestures.
Rich brown earth in satisfying flat washes provides the foundation for a riot of painted flowers in red, peach, white and yellow. Faux foliage splays proudly in turquoise and startling greens, embracing the artificiality and charm of the original mass-produced toy.
Part nostalgic still life, part imagined landscape and part celebration of childhood play, Toy Garden offers a whimsical secret garden to escape into. A distinctive statement piece for collectors of contemporary Australian art, watercolour painting, nostalgic art and playful, imaginative landscapes.
Painted loosely on 300gsm Arches watercolour paper and sealed beneath a protective layer of cold wax, the work is presented in a custom artist-made plywood frame. The deliberately simple, readymade quality of the frame echoes the mass-produced nature of the toy that inspired the painting.