Australian Colour

An exhibition of paintings by
Ann van der Zwaag

9 July – 1 August (HALF GALLERY)

Colour, colour and more colour.

The notion driving the development of Ann’s recent paintings is all about noticing, enjoying, and responding to the energy that happens when landscape colours work together. It’s not so much about the combination of blue sky and red earth, but rather how this red affects that blue, and how that blue affects the way we see the nearby red.

Ann enjoys the multi-layering of acrylic paints. She welcomes the challenge of frequently revising the paintings until she achieves the desired outcome, and of mixing and experimenting with many imagined colours. Also, important but secondary to the colour, are considerations of texture, perspective, light and composition.

Oil or water colour would also have achieved a satisfying result, but the relative opacity and fast-drying qualities of acrylics have given Ann the freedom to change paintings quickly and completely, often several times in one session. Some artists mix secret ingredients in with their paints. Sweat and tears are the most common media, but Ann prefers heavy-duty elbow grease as she works and reworks her images.

These expressionist paintings are not intended to have a narrative or didactic purpose. Ann’s hope is that they will delight and intrigue you, that they will be enjoyed on someone’s wall and reconnect us all to the many Australian places we already know and love