Niamh Pearce
St Philip's Christian College - Waratah
TRAGICALLY BEAUTIFUL
Painting
Acrylic on board
Examining the subject of fire in my body of work has allowed me to use my practice to intertwine concept and personal experience. I used the 'classically beautiful' artform of painting to investigate two contradictory outlooks on the effect of bushfires within Australia. During the 2018 bushfires my family's farm tragically burnt down. It was a place that fostered many cherished memories. This devastating disaster inspired my work's representation of bushfires and their danger. Yet, as I witnessed the regeneration of the environment afterwards, I decided to also convey the bushfire's 'beauty' as it is vital for Australian plant propagation.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the artist John Dickens.
Marker's Commentary
Tragically Beautiful, a three-panel submission, is a response to recent bushfires, and personal experience of the loss of a farm, along with the devastation of rural property. Most sombre in appearance, these paintings tug at the emotional effects of danger and destruction when confronted by fires. The first panel suggests the scale and intensity of an oncoming fire-front. The billowing smoke pours out above the illumination and intense glow of the flames. There is a sense of beauty captured in the upward role of the smoke and embers in the central panel. Here the handling of paint is most considered, the dark hues and tones sit either side of the diagonal rolling clouds of fresh, warm smoke creating the drama of the event. The brushed daubs of paint build the smouldering intensity and disguise the hidden landscape. The last panel discloses the brutal intensity of the fire front and the power of an unpredictable scene. The glow of the flames demonstrates the controlled selection of vibrant colours which radiate beneath the dark clouds of smoke, with only the slight suggestion of the charred landline. Ironically, the audience starts to consider this fleeting moment will later reveal natural beauty in the renewal and regrowth of flora and vegetation.