Cut Outs
La Mer. 2021
Charles Conder and Girolamo Nerli in the studio. Norwich Chambers, Sydney’. 2021
Interior with one square metre cube. 2021
Cut Out. 2022
Cut Out. 2022
Three Rooms. 2022
Cut Out. 2022
The Painter. The Poet. (with reference to Robert Adamson and Spinoza). 2022
Diptych interior. 2023
Cut Out. 2022
Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing 2014 – Finalist – ’20 Narratives’
“The drawing 20 Narratives is one of a series of what I call ‘cut-outs’ which have been running parallel with other projects for the past decade. I have tended to do them as a series, the first one started in the mid 1990s, the ‘Tabula Cebetes’ which referenced Cebe’s, (a disciple of Socrates) book of life. The next series was based on an ongoing project relating to an area of Palaeobotany (extinct plants) – the ‘Talbrager drawings’ from the mid nineties to the present. This drawing for his show is one of a series of ‘interiors’. A theme I have touched on often over the years. They always include figures, and for me fulfil the frustrated ‘theatre director’ side within. The shallow-boxed frames provide a contained theatrical setting and the ‘oblique perspective’ offers lots of opportunities for ‘composing’ the drawing and playing with both illusory and real space. The ‘narratives’ in this drawing have some personal references, but are open to interpretation as well. The influences for this and other similar pieces are hard to pin down but would be as diverse as the small Swiss souvenirs my grandmother had on her walls depicting the interiors of mountain cottages which fascinated me as a child to the formalism of Japanese Kabuki theatre and the contained graphic drama of Goya’s ‘Disasters of War’ series.” Ink, pencil, watercolour on paper 130 x 90 cm
‘The Evolution of Drawing’. diptych panels 1 & 2. pencil, chalk on paper. 1.3 x 1.6 m
Pokolbin Drawing Prize 2005 – First Prize – ‘Interior 11’
Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing 2011 – Finalist – ‘Suburban Sydney’
“The work is a segment of what could be any Sydney suburb from the air where the predominate shapes are the rectangular, red-roofed houses and the various-shaped swimming pools set within a gridded network of streets. The grid reminded me of a type of weave and so the drawn lines on the paper were cut out and woven together rather than placed. As with many of my ‘cut out’ urban drawings, I like the idea of exposing the ‘bones’ of the built environment in an attempt to draw attention to the fragility of the human condition and our attempts to structure our lives in particular ways”. Chalk on paper (collage) 110 x 85 cm
Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing 2008 – People’s Choice – ‘The place where you Live’
“The drawing entitled ‘The place where you Live’, refers to the theme of the built environment and tries to draw a parallel between ourselves and other life forms, (in this case, birds) in respect to the similar ways we construct our habitats. The work makes a pointed reference to the ‘nest-building’ habit we share with all life forms and a reminder of the ultimate fragility and impermanence of these constructions. It hopefully represents a gentle reminder of the need for environmental perspective and humility.” Pencil/charcoal on card 112 x 96 cm
Art on Paper: Hazelhurst Art Award 2007 – People’s Choice – ‘Fish of the Talbragar’
‘The crossing’
cut paper in shallow frame 1.6 x 1.4 m 2008
The Floating World Talbragar Lake, Gulgong (Triassic)
This work is one of a number of images which relate to my continuing interest in mainly extinct or threatened species of plants. I use ‘fictional narratives’ as a vehicle for presenting the sometimes very abstract concepts of deep time and our ability to imagine this.
‘Sydney’. Quote from John McDonald, Sydney Morning Herald, April 2007
“In this picture he has created a fabulous vista of the city in shallow relief: buildings lurch drunkenly from side-to-side, while the streets are overrun by tiny figures, drawn on separate pieces of black card. This is no simple “celebration” of suburbia, but a visual symphony that incorporates both the lure of the big city and the slightly menacing feeling of wandering through a forest of skyscrapers”.
Country Town NSW 150cm x 130cm
