Kim Passalaqua – Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) Charles Sturt University
For my entire life, I have tightly embraced the bends of the river. I grew up near the banks of the Darling at Broken Hill, and now years later, find myself beside the nurturing force of the Murray River, its wetlands and waterways.
I have been drawing and painting most of my life, inspired by the brilliant colours of the outback. I am passionate about colour so love to experiment with colour combinations to create a strong visual impact. Whether using pastels, oils of acrylics I like to incorporate a painterly appearance with an aspect of drawing. I often work using acrylics, pastel and ink to build up layers of an image. I enjoy many different mediums and how they move across the surface of the paper or canvas I think that one of the most important aspects is being really connected to the subject. When I chose to paint a subject in the first place, inspiration must be so compelling that I just have to get it on to the canvas.
The textures and colours of the Australian landscape are the inspiration for my artwork and continue to influence me as an artist. The natural processes of erosion and weather create a canvas which is always changing. The colours, shapes, patterns and tones become my visual cue to create my own landscapes from these ancient surfaces and landscapes. I draw my inspiration from the beauty of not only local landscapes but also the harsh beauty of the raw Australian outback.
During my travels to different parts of the Australian outback ‘en plein air’ painting has become an important part of my practice. When I immerse myself in these rich landscapes, with their vast horizons, I like to slow things down, to observe and search for the beauty in the environment. Hearing the river flowing by, the cockatoos calling in the treetops, or being surrounded by ancient landscape is an empowering journey, . This immersion into the landscape creates a sense of discovery and inspiration that is endless.
In the process of recreating what I see, I naturally move from a position of observing a subject in a loose way to one where I can develop an understanding of its parts. We live in intricate tapestries of landscape so I would like my paintings to enrich and highlight the passages of time and place, and in this way kindle a relationship with the artist and the viewer.