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Abstract
The works in this volume explore ideas associated with the human figure in
the urban landscape. By building a framework using geometrical means in
the picture space, a poetic interpretation or dramatic situation is able to be
sustained.
The figure or figures are placed in differing spatial scenarios to explore the
interrelatedness of human existence within time and space. A descriptive context
is created to glimpse the figures caught, in a moment of time , within an
imaginary scenario.
Four months spent in Paris at the Cite Internationale des Arts, in the UNSW
studio, provided the resource for the research and exploration of the direction
of the work. The great squares of European cities, with their arches and
facades, helped to portray frailty and isolation for the human figure.
Contemporary masters who have influenced much of the work, who I had the
opportunity to study in situ in Paris and Brussels, are Balthus, Paul
Delvaux, and philosophically, Anselm Kiefer. Other artists who have been an
influence are Watteau, Vermeer, Giorgio de Chirico and Edward Hopper.
The work of Piero della Francesca was the reference point for the mood of
stillness and contemplation that I found echoed in Vermeer, and both of these
artists geometricized their picture spaces for aesthetic purposes. Painting and
poetry are for me, means to access the deeper, more permanent truths about
our place in time and space.