Recent Work - 2017 to 2022
Recent Work 2021
[Gifted]
Early 1950's FJ Holden in Reservoir, Melbourne garden, 2020
Acrylic on canvas board, 53cm x 42cm
Sheep's Foot Roller, All Nations Park, Northcote, Melbourne
INNER URBAN+
The theme of my
most recent artwork is INNER URBAN+ , a collection of paintings and
photography.
This is art
inspired by inner Melbourne, and the Victorian coastline. My artwork is
DOCUMENTARY in approach; I'm stating what exists in my part of Melbourne, and I
want people to go out and see for themselves what is unique and powerful about
inner Melbourne and the Victorian coast.
I'm partly
highlighting and inspired by other artists work, for example in my painting of
a building in Footscray honouring famous furniture seller Franco Cozzo. I'm
placing the entire building with its mural in Footscray complete with passersby
and traffic. The mural was painted by street artist collective HEESCO. Franco
Cozzo [1936 - 2023] came to Australia in 1956. Franco is a
larger than life character, who had T.V. ads in Italian and Greek, and has been
the patron of local arts festivals. Vale Franco Cozzo.
My documentary
approach continues in my gouache paintings inspired by Invasion/Survival Day
2016 in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne. One painting depicts unsigned cut-out
murals of Aboriginal sports heroines and heroes, that were displayed that day.
The inner Melbourne suburb of Thornbury is one of the places where the Aboriginal presence and history in Victoria is proudly evident. This is depicted in my painting of a mural of AFL football players at the Aboriginal Advancement Centre in Thornbury. To quote TOM MOSBY, chief executive of the Koorie Heritage Trust, "Indigenous culture should be seen as very much central to society, not sitting on the fringes where Indigenous issues have traditionally been".
The Koorie Heritage Trust has a new home in Federation Square, which was a gathering place for the Kulin Nation. (The Age Newspaper, Sat. August 27, 2016)
Uncle JACK CHARLES, actor, musician and Indigenous elder, wants to see a future Melbourne pay more respect to its Indigenous heritage, starting with teaching new immigrants about the Indigenous heritage of Victoria, something that has been successfully organized in the past. "We need to be standing at the gate as they come in", he has stated.
Another gouache painting is of a spotted gum, CORYMBIA MACULATA, which grows directly adjacent to the area where Invasion/Survival/Australia Day took place in 2016. This tree is as unique as the first Australians themselves. To quote WALEED ALY, Fairfax columnist and university lecturer, "we are all Aussies in this multi-cultural society. Some still suffer, but we are all moving in a great direction".
Spotted Gum
[Gifted]
BARBARA ROBINSON, March 2017.
Recent Work - 2018
Conservatory, Fitzroy Gardens
People leaving the plant conservatory, Fitzroy Gardens, 2017, adjacent to the site of Invasion/Survival/Australia Day concert, 2016.
[Gifted]
Fitzroy Gardens, 2018. Plants in foreground, (Hydrangeas and Lilies), are from the adjacent plant conservatory.
