winter morning portrait
2024
mixed media paint, metallic tint, acrylic, resin and oil paint on plywood
51x41cm
Neal Cassady
2024
mixed media, paint on canvas
2024
oil paint on oak timber veneer joinery panel
Del Titnu
2023
crayon, stencil, industrial enamel, spray paint and oil paint on recycled 2PAC Poly cabinet door
71x 60cm
P.O.A
Tasting Notes
The central character in this piece is sampled from social media, the yellow stencil is one of my mothers wedding gifts, a tablecloth
the painting itself is atop residential building waste, a kitchen cupboard door headed for landfill.
my goal is to subvert the cycle of consumerism by making something consumable, from waste.
I think especially with the rise of A.I as a tool for creators, there is a need to make art something other than merely homewares with a shelf life of what’s fashionable this season…a play on ‘untitled’ backwards
Pappa Retz
2023
Oil paint, industrial enamel paint, spray paint and crayon on recycled 2PAC Poly cabinet door
80x 60cm
P.O.A
Tasting Notes;
Whole car graff bomber, sheep rustler, poacher, pirate, captain, sinker of boats, cheese maker, moonshine brewer, plant cultivator, gold prospector, automobile artist, AFL enthusiast, connoisseur of culinary arts, literature and hip hop.
My mate Jordie inspired me to paint his head on an old kitchen door
Paid Acquaintance
2023
industrial enamel, spray paint and oil on recycled 2PAC Poly cabinet door
46x 41cm
P.O.A
Tasting Notes
the central character in this piece is sampled from social media, the yellow stencil is a scrap of perforated steel
the painting itself is atop residential building waste, a kitchen cupboard door headed for landfill.
my goal is to subvert the cycle of consumerism by making something consumable, from waste.
I think especially with the rise of A.I as a tool for creators, there is a need to make art something other than merely homewares with a shelf life of what’s fashionable, art provides a considered way of questioning value.
Jello Biafra
2020
oil paint, recycled timber mounted on styrofoam
28x 27cm
P.O.A
Tasting Notes;
Jello Biafra, original lead singer of 'the dead kennedys'
I found, and still do more often than not, the loud and aggressive aspects of punk music make it inaccessible. Understanding the lyrical content changed that, 'holiday in cambodia' was the gateway drug for me.
I still don't particularly like punk 'music' but I find solace in much of what bands like this one and 'fugazi' expressed
Uncle Matt
2022
mixed media paint, resin and oil on framed plywood box
61x 46cm
Private Collection
Tasting Notes
I missed the wedding due to Covid, so I painted this
Walk The Plank
2020
oil paint on recycled hardwood fence palings
36x 28cm
Private Collection
San Souci
2022
mixed media paint and resin, old bed sheet on a framed Jeffrey Smart print, Truck and trailer approaching a city
73x 103cm
P.O.A
Have a heart
2022
mixed media paint and resin on canvas
76x 50cm
P.O.A
Tasting Notes;
"Truth is a mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, anthropomorphisms…truths are illusions of which we have forgotten that they are illusions, metaphors which have become worn by frequent use and have lost all sensuous vigour…"
– Friedrich Nietzsche "On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense” (1873)
I was taught that quoting, long dead, famous philosophers is the tried and tested means to sounding clever.
Hopefully through contrast it adds some weight to the depth of the overarching point.
To have a heart and recognise that facing up to life and our place in it, it is better done with an open heart, the power is in being vulnerable and not turning away from pain, but moving forward by first turning to face it.
I think this applies to everything from environmentalism to racial history and gender identity to sustainable economics… care and respect.
2022
mixed media paint and resin on glass
Outback Lounge
2020
mixed media paint, burns and smoke, resin and oil paint on plywood
120x 160cm
P.O.A
Gale Maze
2020
mixed media paint on canvas
56x 70cm
P.O.A
Tasting Notes
Painting women is scary, life drawing classes even more so…
I’m a privileged cisgender white bloke, the last thing I want to do is project my awkwardness onto a situation, being a cocky prick is even worse… I find humour helps to de-escalate conflict, but its far from safe, and can easily backfire, if I sit there imagining everyone in the room is naked, nothing gets done.
There is something in the process of drawing naked people though, its like lifting weights, it adds strength for when I want to create other art work… so I keep going back week after week.This is about that in some way, it’s also informed from years working in commercial kitchens as a chef and on building sites all around Australia as a carpenter and having to stand up for my beliefs in the right to self-determination and the importance for people to not only be safe, but to feel safe.
I set this canvas on fire in the process of making this, it helped bring out the face from behind, the male gaze.
in case you didn't get it in the title
The Patron Saint of Creativity
2018
mixed media paint, metallic tint, smoke stain and resin on canvas
76x 76cm
Private Collection
Tasting Notes
Charles Buckowski, poet, novelist and short story writer… I can see the sounds of his words on his face, the gravel stain liquor and leather smoke. The grind of self-medication and the drudgery of work, the mischievous, fuck you, twinkle of someone who chooses, against all conservative and popular reasoning and logic, chooses to create an alternative and to do so to the best of his potential.
The Kiss Of Life
2023
46x 41cm
Tasting Notes:
This painting is on residential building waste, a kitchen cupboard door headed for landfill.
Based on the 1967 photo by Rocco Morabito showing mouth to mouth resuscitation of an electrocuted line worker by his work mate.
I was especially inspired when painting this as I was also building a home in Glebe and from on top of the green roof I had a clear view of buildings across the water I had done abseiling work on in Pyrmont.
The yellow stencil is one of my mothers wedding gifts, a tablecloth.
marble skirt
triptych
oil paint on Italian Marble skirting tiles
3@ 30x 7.5cm
Private Collection
available in print
Tasting Notes;
Italian marble skirting tiles, left over from a tiling job in Darling Point
This Isn't Painting
2018
mixed media paint and resin on canvas
91x 61cm
P.O.A
The Old Man Sees Through It
2019
mixed media paint and resin on form ply
Private Collection available as print
Tasting Notes
Animism rocks!
Hayao Miyasaki, if you aren’t familiar with this godfather of Anime, do yourself a favour, look him up.
The multi layers of appreciation available in his work are a true Marvel.
This work sits alongside the ‘Princess Mononoke’ inspired painting “two wolves”
This painting was exhibited in the 2019 Korean-Australian Art Foundation.
Bosko Vujovic
(triptych)
2019
mixed media paint, smoke stain and resin on plywood
1.2 x 3.6M
P.O.A