In the throes of preparing for two upcoming exhibitions, Art Almanac speaks with Margaret Ackland about what has motivated this series of paintings…
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on two solo shows; Vestiges at Flinders Lane Gallery and The Arid Zone at Anthea Polson.
And what were the origins of the idea? What was the inspiration?
This work has its origin in a trip I did with Artist Profile Magazine in 2011 out to Fowlers Gap. My response to the landscape was predicated on my imagining the lives of those who lived there in the early 1900s.
What are some of the themes you are exploring in this body of work? Are there thematic consistencies between your current projects and your precious work?
Dislocation. Hopes and dreams modified by harsh landscape. Culture ill equipped to understand culture. That which is, seen and unseen. In previous works I have used clothing to hint at human presence, and before that, still life objects that have held meaning for me. The connections may not seem obvious to anyone except me.
How do you go about beginning a work, what’s your process?
Lots of drawing. Lots of painting… and a bit of reading. I usually start with small experimental works and see what emerges. I really need my hand to be moving, making work for ideas to properly evolve.
What motivates you as an artist?
I have an irresistible urge to make images, a compulsion to draw and a love of paint.
Flinders Lane Gallery
28 May to 15 June, 2013
Melbourne
Anthea Polson Art
25 May to 8 June, 2013
Queensland
Shadow, 2013, oil on birch panel, 30 x 30cm
Vestiges, 2013, oil on linen, 183 x 152cm
Courtesy the artist and Flinders Lane Gallery
