Kate Lewis

Master of Contemporary Art

My painting practice is a distillation of those moments when you lay your eyes on something glorious - a kind of oily record keeping, if you like. For me, these moments spring up most commonly when out strolling in the bush. Of course, I could pen a diary entry or snap a photo, but words aren't my closest friends and the hard lines of digital photographs hardly do justice to the oil-laden Australian landscape. Oil paints are the obvious choice when evoking the languid lines of a eucalypt under the relentless sun - oils are kinetic yet forgiving and shimmer with a vividity that betrays the laconicism of an often harsh and ancient land.

This series is titled ‘Presence’, as in the state or fact of existing, occurring, or being present. ‘Presence’, relates to its title on both a metaphysical and literal level. Painting ‘alla prima’, I paint in one sitting. I am interested in my presence in my landscape, as well as the literal presence paint performs and subsequently claims on the surfaces I chose to explore.