Ric Burkitt [b. 1956, Bendigo, Victoria] Lives in Stoneville [Perth Hills], Western Australia
Social media: @ric_burkitt [Instagram] / RicBurkittstudio [Facebook]
Website: www.ricburkittstudio.com
Graduated: Curtin University of Technology, Bachelor of Fine Art [Distinction], 1992
Exhibitions: Solo 2022: A STATE OF BEING, Ellenbrook Art Gallery 2019: INTERLUDE, Juniper Galleries, Perth 2017: In The Abstract, NEST. Australian Design Studio, Darlington 2016: Just Add Passion gallery, Stoneville
Exhibitions: Group 2022: LIFELINE 20x20. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; LOVE NOTES. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; Ellenbrook Open Art Awards, Ellenbrook Art Gallery; HOLIDAY. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; SUMMER POP. Art Marx Gallery, Fremantle; SWOON. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; JOY. Montauk Lighting Company, The Townhouse, West Leederville 2021: LIFELINE 20x20. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; Northam Art Prize, Avon Valley Arts Society; DAD. Father's Day group show. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; ISLAND. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; PALETTE. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; SAFE KEEPING Shire of Mundaring Acquisition Exhibition, Mundaring Arts Centre 2020: MIDSUMMER. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; Darlington Arts Festival, Invitational exhibition, Darlington; Fine Art@Hale Invitational Exhibition, Wembley [virtual/online] 2019: Mainly Miniatures Juniper Galleries, Darlington; Annual Collection. Juniper Galleries, Darlington; Ellenbrook Open Art Awards, Ellenbrook Art Gallery; Rottnest Foundation Art Exhibition. Holmes a Court Gallery, West Perth; St Hilda's OSA Art Exhibition. Joy Shepherd Performing Arts CentrePlace & Space, Mundaring Arts Centre 2018: GALVANISE. Inaugural Artsource members exhibition. Old Customs House, Fremantle; Mainly Miniatures Juniper Galleries, Darlington; CONTOUR Juniper Galleries, Darlington; NEST. Australian Design Studio, Darlington 2016/18: Member of Mundaring Hills Open Studios, exhibiting on one or two weekends every year, in our private studio spaces 2016 NEST. Australian Design Studio, Darlington; Darlington Arts Festival, Darlington; Ellenbrook Open Art Awards, Ellenbrook Art Gallery; Don't Jettison Everything. Mundaring Arts Centre, Mundaring 1998: Houghton Winery, Swan Valley 1996 Mundaring Art & Craft gallery 1993: Small Spaces, Graduate Degree Show, Gallery Dusseldorf 1989 West Australian Artists, Gomboc Gallery, Middle Swan.
Collections: Curtin University of Technology
Teaching: 2022— Tresillian Arts Centre, Nedlands;1997— 2021 VET sector, teaching graphic design and visual arts
Awards/achievements: 2022 Ellenbrook Open Art Awards: Winner: Painting Award 2021 Northam Art Prize: Winner: Oils & Acrylics; Northam Art Prize: Winner: Works on Paper 2018 Ellenbrook Art Awards: Winner: Painting Award 2018 Finalist: Bluethumb Art Prize 2018 Finalist: Art Lovers Prize 2017 Ellenbrook Art Awards: Highly Commended
ARTIST’S STATEMENT: I have no strategies when considering subject matter, and often there is no connection between one concept and the next, other than a wish to remain positive, to focus on the good, and be less cynical. I wander around materials and techniques like a bandit, and ideas come and go in a variety of genres. Today I’m exploring an abstract concept; tomorrow, it might be a figurative work. It doesn’t matter: it’s all relevant to me. There are ideas lurking in conventional, mundane places and experiences, and I try to inspire them to become something more, to be an acceptable translation of that original vision. Things that we see but don’t always notice can be saturated with aesthetic possibilities: light and shade; form and space; contrast; texture; insight and emotion. Art, for me, does not provide answers to anything. Its language is mysterious and imprecise, and I am occasionally overwhelmed by the challenges it throws up. And like many artists, I am rarely satisfied with my work, but deliriously happy to be doing it.
