Through the Trees
Oil on Arches Oil paper | 20 x 50 cm
Framed dimensions: 33 × 60 cm
Through the Trees is an impasto plein air painting made at Waychinicup on the south coast of Western Australia as part of Horizons, curated by Carly Le Cerf.
I painted it almost immediately after arriving on site. I had barely set up my tent before the rain began bucketing down and the wind started howling. From where I was working, the inlet was only partially visible through a dense screen of trees.
What struck me was the sheer number of greens in front of me — deep, wet, muted and constantly shifting in the weather. I pushed those greens against flashes of vibrant magenta, using thick paint and direct marks to hold onto some of the energy of the conditions.
Towards the end of the painting, one of the sound artists involved in Horizons walked down to the inlet and began fishing. I added his small figure into the landscape, giving a human scale to the mass of vegetation, water and weather around him.
The surface is heavily worked and impasto, with the physical struggle of painting outdoors in rain and wind remaining visible in the finished work. Rather than describing Waychinicup precisely, Through the Trees records what it felt like to encounter it for the first time.
Framed in oak under gallery-grade non-reflective glass, with D-rings and hanging string fitted. Ready to hang.
