In ‘Shelter’, Tasmanian artist Michaye Boulter presents a series of paintings inspired by the secluded waters of Southern Tasmania – Southport Lagoon, Port Davey and Bruny Island. Painted on linen, board and hand-beaten steel, the works express a solemn quietude that Boulter has internalised, having spent much of her life around the sea. Remote coastlines, shrouded by trees invoke a sense of intimacy and comfort, or self-discovery in a persistent search for hidden aspects of self and place. Boulter explains, ‘In revisiting these places, current emotions merge with past thoughts, dreams and feelings, reassuring myself of who I am and where I belong.’

Michaye Boulter, Incoming, oil on linen, 152 x 188cm
Cobalt blues, transparent maroons and soft pinks capture the subtle transitions of evening light as it ripples across the water and darts through the clouds. Mutable scenes of distant, hazy horizons create a vacuum of receding recollections and fleeting experiences. Simultaneously, these silent seascapes appear suspended in time and space; still waters and soft landforms silhouetted against ethereal skies in an eternal unfolding moment.

Michaye Boulter, Into the clouds, oil on hand beaten steel, 57.5 x 65 x 4cm
Boulter has collaborated with Gerhard Mausz and Linda Fredheim in a new experimentation with modes of display. Mausz crafted the hand-beaten steel shapes which allowed Boulter’s paintings to appear worn and warped by nature, bearing the marks of time. Fredheim’s timber tripods sit between artwork and furniture, Boulter’s ‘Golden hour’ features a painting hosted within a protective timber case that enhances the painting’s sense of intimate mystery. The casing also works to weave a unique sense of place into multiple levels of the work, being made from eucalyptus just as the trees depicted within.
‘These paintings are about life and longing’, reflects Boulter, ‘about the intangible nature of beauty, the passing of time, and my attempt to find my place in it all.’
Arthouse Gallery
15 November to 1 December, 2018
Sydney