Introspection

by Angus White

13 - 24 February 2024

This collection of paintings encapsulates the work that was completed while on residency in Kangaroo Valley, NSW in November 2023, after having been awarded the Brett Whiteley Travelling art scholarship. Here, many themes were explored through the lens of abstraction, investigating the link between traditional figurative painting and abstract expressionism.

With a developing interest in the way human life evolves as we age and the unexpected events that unfold, the paintings attempt to act as a kaleidoscopic view into the human experience. As figures appear and vanish, twist and melt into each other; The movement between reality and pure abstraction plays a large role in the development of the ideas explored in the paintings.

Having been influenced heavily after a recent tour of Europe’s most impressive art collections, the work seeks to present itself as a refinement of practice with a deep rooting in classical and baroque compositional techniques to truly blur the line between the dramatization of life for entertainment purposes and the banal nature of reality. With a maturing in palette and subject matter, this body of work has evolved from previous paintings shown at No Vacancy Gallery in 2023 and marks the second significant step in White’s exploration into abstract expressionist painting.