Artist Interview with emerging Tasmanian artist Harrison Bowe, for his inaugural solo exhibition Passing Through.
5 – 29 April 2023
Despard Gallery is pleased to present the latest video in our Artist Interview Series featuring emerging Tasmanian artist Harrison Bowe. Listen to Harrison discuss his solo trek through loinnekumme / the Arthur Ranges in south-west lutruwita /Tasmania and the paintings that he produced on his return. Harrison also reflects on his creative journey that has lead to his inaugural solo exhibition and the importance of walking as means to discovery and self contemplation.
Navigating the terrain and experiencing it firsthand, Bowe response to the landscape becomes instinctual, creating large-scale paintings that revere the magnitude of these spaces and the ethereal experiences that they can elicit. His physical use of enamel, oil and beeswax, results in a surface that is both tactile and complex, contrasting rich texture against subtle gradients. As such, each painting is raw and immersive, drawing us into its receding depths through an infinite gamut of tone. As such we become transported by each work, demonstrating the power of the landscapes to evoke real feelings and tapping into a relationship that is personal, yet universally shared. But also, how paint can be a means to express these connections in a way that cannot be termed in words; to be in awe of its presence, humbled by its power and lost to its intimacy.