Anthony Harris' work has always been motivated by
nature, from microscopic to panoramic. His latest work has its essence in the
Karoo and Richtersveld landscape, titlehough it has no reference to a specific
place or time. Mankind or his flotsam is seldom represented. Anthony chooses
marks and shapes, which evoke a recollection of an object or a mood. This he
achieves through his own dialogue of subconscious and conscious action in
painting.
Anthony does not work from specific visual references (photographs or insitu
painting) but draws on subconscious experiences of nature - "we are what
we allow ourselves to experience". Through the physical act of painting,
Anthony makes the subconscious, conscious.
Technically, Anthony uses oil on board. The use of board is also an integral
part of the painting as he prepares the board to reflect the kind of surface
he wants - from extremely smooth to textured undercoat. In applying the
paint he uses "anything that creates a visually stimulating mark or
texture" (both implied and actual). This is in essence the content of
Anthony's work.
While the end result is perceived as a "landscape" the Artist's
indulgence is the visual stimulation of the mark the medium makes...Anthony
believes that the illusion of a landscape or a painting depicting objects' is
secondary to the two-dimensional surface, the medium and the mark that the
medium makes...
The following artworks are a representation of the Artist's body of work. A wider
selection
is available for viewing at Afrikana Gallery in South Melbourne. |
