Unbearable Light

Winter in Sydney is wet, dull, and dirty, the evenings alleviated by the artificial colour of city lights. In late August the jasmine starts blooming and the magnolia flowers appear, huge and extravagant in every shade between cream and aubergine. These are followed by the cherry blossoms, their fragile pink petals heralding the start of beach season. Inspired by the bright palette and cold evenings of early spring, Unbearable Light juxtaposes the luxury of the indoors with the translucent, transient beauty of suburban gardens.

Painted using an indirect style, this piece features layers of transparent coloured glazes to produce vibrant jewel tones full of depth and clarity.

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Born in Australia to an expat family, I lived in four different countries before I started high school, an upbringing that taught me to appreciate the universality of art as a medium of communication and connection. A chance encounter with Copley's A Boy With A Flying Squirrel inspired a passion for realer-than-real art that inspires the mind with its skill as much as its meaning, and I followed that passion to a bachelor of fine arts at COFA. A night owl and feral animal fan, my work draws inspiration from the deep shadows and bright lights of the evening urban environment and the unkempt beauty of the natural world, with stylistic influences drawn from the allegorical details of the Dutch Golden Age to the hyper-saturated colours of Pop Art and everything in between.