Conversations with Ghosts (Portrait of Brett Whiteley)

I think every artist at some point in their life has had the desire to talk to the artists who've inspired them, but how do you do that when they have passed?

Imagine the things you would ask Frida or Basquiat? For me someone I have always wanted to talk to is Brett Whiteley, I have found his artworks deeply transportive, I can get lost in them, and watching the videos of him and the glimpses of his practice I will always have a feeling of intrigue and wonder. This feeling for the most part will be unfulfillable, while i'll never be able to actually see or speak to him in person I have created some small comfort by painting him myself, taking mental notes by examining and trying to replicate his brush strokes and style.

In this small way i feel i can pay my own little homage to him, but also get an understanding of how he created art and who he may have been.

This is my conversation with him so to speak.

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I find that my art enables me to express elements of my world that can't necessarily be seen by the naked eye, its an attempt at conveying something a bit intangible. Abstraction is the primary way I communicate my ideas and experiences in art.
The naive and somewhat primitive lines, shapes, colours and textures I use are my attempt at capturing the atmosphere, personality or feeling of a place or person I have encountered in my life, realism or a photograph in my opinion doesn't always capture these elements of the world.
I feel that my art brings these to the surface...it shows the soul of something, somewhere, or someone. Perhaps you will see someone you know within my strange works, maybe even yourself.