S a r a h B e l l V I S U A L A R T I S T
m o r n i n g t o n p e n i n s u l a v i c t o r i a / b o o n w u r r u n g c o u n t r y
info@sarah-bell-artist.com
I hereby acknowledge that I work on what always was and always will be the land of the Boon wurrung/Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to Elders past and present, as well as to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wider community and beyond. Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded.
Image credits: Bri Horne
These living elements weave themselves into the artwork, either as symbolic motifs or integral narrative threads. In doing so, I seek to underline the profound interdependence between creatures and landscapes and the ongoing impact of colonisation of the land and climatic events. Still, an element of playfulness infuses the creation of these artworks, evident in whimsical details, such as the placement of stars or flowers within my compositions.
Working from observation, plein air and memory through chalk drawings and oil studies, I build the surface in gradual layers, feeling into a ‘slow painting’ process using a limited palette. Tapping into the kinaesthetic process of painting, I still both myself and my focus to embody the landscape’s space and light as it unfolds in the painting. The work is largely seeking to capture the atmosphere, light, shape and forms affected by the weather and seasons through the sensuous act of painting.I want to provoke the viewer to dream and imagine, or be transported via the senses, into gentle feeling states.
Tender Waters is a collection of paintings made over time and in quiet observation of pristine waterways around my home on the Mornington Peninsula, Boon Wurrung and Bunurong lands, and extending to the east coast of Australia. Throughout my artistic practice, life-giving water has been a recurring theme, offering an archetypal feminine expression of the landscape. The places in these landscapes reflect personal histories, and where I sit in deep listening and observation of bird and animal movements; a kind of rewilding of the self.
