Pete Martin on Landscape
and what’s with ‘aerial views’
ARTIST STATEMENT
Australian Landscape was under threat of becoming boring, there had to be a better and different way to capture the emotion of the landscape. Most of the paintings on show didn’t convey the same intensity of emotion that could be derived from contemporary prose. Most importantly, the general public had come to believe that a good painting included a stand of gums and looked ‘just like the real thing’. The biggest problem was that the paintings didn’t make them feel they could only make them think, what a sad indictment on a medium whose core language relies on emotion.
The emotive language describing Australia’s landscape always refers to the richness of the colour, the environmental conditions and textures of the land; typical landscape struggles to carry that language as well as the aerial perspective. In an aerial the colours of the land and the colour of the light are played out in harmony which offers new and inviting compositions.
Offering a different perspective to the norm is entirely engaging to the general public, this is not a dismissal of the old conventions but an endorsement of something new.
With great publicity about the plight of our environment, these works identify what has already occurred out of the view of the urban dweller. These works are contemporary, they talk of today as easily as they describe a landscape ages old.
The works are created as my expression and response to my land. Happily they (the works) appeal to others simply giving me permission to continue working.
I am often asked ‘how do I get up there?’ elevated over theses scenes that is, and I tell them that I walk and experience these places firsthand to get to know them. You simply can’t paint something you don’t know. The texture of the soil, the smells and the feelings you get from actually being there stay with you and have a large effect on the painting all the way through to it’s completion.
These works narrate from my perspective, this is my country and these are my stories and I painted them to invite you in to how they make me feel. I particularly enjoy painting the colour of shadow especially as it is in direct opposition to the colour of light. Golden light will give blue shadows while lemon coloured light will give mauve to lilac coloured shadows, this informs the viewer as to the time of day or even the season in which the story is being told.
The cows in these works create three things, great metaphors, excellent compositional elements and opportunities to make social statement. I’m not trying to paint cows in a photographic way, cameras can do that. I’m painting them so that people will recognise that they are cows and only part of the whole composition.
While I work hard to create strong images it is still primary for me that the work stands as art with good design and construction.
My paintings explore the landscape with all its moments, some are heavy in irony while others take small slices of time and space for everyone to enjoy.