Urban Wetlands

17th – 29th November 2009

Frances Temple Sebesta
The subject of this exhibition is drawn from three aspects of the urban landscape. The first concerns the Melaleuca trees that proliferate through what was once the Cooks River Valley but is now more known to us as Port Botany, the airport and the inner west. These magnificent trees survive despite their surrounding industrial and residential environment. The second is the development of the wetlands in Sydney Park at St Peters on what was once an industrial site. The third is the restoration of the mangroves in Homebush Bay, an important development for the health of the Parramatta River. Reconciling the industrial and natural environments of a big city is a current issue that concerns us all. The works in this exhibition are intended to make us pause and look more closely at these remarkable spaces.

When gathering resources for working, the first thing I do is draw. Drawing is knowing, it enables me to internalise the subject so that I can use both my intuition as well as my knowledge. These drawings are usually realistic and detailed. From there, many small works are produced in gouache, watercolour, pen and ink, crayon and acrylic paint. The subject is constantly reinterpreted in colour and aesthetic qualities such as composition, balance and unity become an important consideration. Larger works follow and are worked on often in conjunction with the smaller works. The surfaces of the paintings are built up in layers, each layer revealing something of the one below.

I look at artists whose work shows the natural world interpreted through abstract markings. Three Australian artists whose work I admire are Yvonne Audette, John Passmore and Fred Williams. Further afield, 30 years as an art teacher cannot be denied. and I greatly admire Chinese monumental landscape painting and European masters such as Fragonard.