Life Blood

Highly commended

2025
oil on canvas
91 x 91 cm

I was born in Sydney and have lived there for most of my life. I am an infantry veteran who served in the 1st Pacific Islands Regiment in Port Moresby.

My work includes figure studies in pencil and crayon with major works of landscapes and figurative works in oils and acrylics.

Life Blood is a conversation about the elemental and mystical images of the Australian landscape. It attempts to develop a greater understanding of deep roots and abstract patterns emerging from the land. I painted the work in my studio after completing numerous drawings and photographs from a painting trip I undertook west of the Great Dividing Range.

With the use of negative space and the dissonance of line work I have tried to draw the viewer into a conversation about the Australian landscape. In the lyrical deconstruction of those uniquely Australian forms I have attempted to develop a deeper understanding of the mystical and spiritual objects found in the bush. Vibrant colour compliments the elemental shapes found on the canvases and places the work in the tradition of Australian abstract expressionists.