‘The Horizon’ by emerging Hobart artist Sam Field; within this new body of vibrant and raw paintings, Field adopts a distinctively robust aesthetic to critique Australian folklore and unpick the mistruths woven into the fabric of our recorded history. Field’s work often fosters a hardened perspective that emphasises human fallibility, resulting in compositions that could be mistaken for post-apocalyptic Australian postcards. The sounds and tales that these paintings evoke are simultaneously wondrous and solemn; their concerns may be uncomfortable but are undeniably Australian.

Sam Field, Man and Woman Walking Through Dry River of Empire (Man Laying Dog Bait), 2020, oil on board, 132 x 122cm. Courtesy the artist and Despard Gallery, Tasmania
‘The uncomfortable negotiating of the mythologies of this country; it’s colonial mantle, its masculinity, its romanticism, its filmic lag, its apparently wild geography – Field embraces the discomfort of wrestling the Aussie battler head-on.’– Fernando do Campo
Despard Gallery
27 May to 20 June 2020
Tasmania
View artworks, digital catalogue and artist interview here