The oil on canvas painting “Absence and Presence” is a response to a place in Albany, WA. The Mount Clarence Granite trail in central Albany loops the mount with stunning viewpoints of Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound. An intimate space just off the trail is the subject of this painting where large boulders are packed together and obscured by the tallest trees on the mount.

Respecting the knowledge of the first nation’s people who know this space, the work is a conscious exploration of the known and the unknown in respect to European knowledge. The unnamed space is surrounded by European named landforms, the history and attributes defined, while the space is literally seen but unseen.

The composition was constructed with multiple hand cut stencils taken from a number of preliminary drawings. Layering oil paint from light to dark, from underpainting to glaze layer, to form a landscape has burred the lines between forms.

Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 40cm (h) x 30cm (w) 
Region: Great Southern