Portrait of a Bushfire Artwork

This work is part of a multi-sized series on the portrayal of the danger, fear and “devastating beauty” of bushfires/wildfires. The genesis of the work was largely influenced by the NSW Australia Mt Gosper fires of 2019/2020 and from conversations with a friend who fought to save his family’s large property near the Capertee Valley in NSW Australia, in January 2020. During emotional conversations, the images dominating his memory were the vivid “fire-reds and yellows” and the death inferred by the black textures of the fire's aftermath. Around the same time, I had been independently considering a broader view of the majesty of the life cycle of the Australian bush, which in turn led me to think about how bush-fires might see and portray themselves. I imagined bush-fires would say of themselves that they are treacherous, capricious, angry and unashamedly resplendent. They are unpredictable, agile and self-indulgent. Not trivializing their destructive power but acknowledging these events as increasingly inevitable and having a fundamental role in environmental regeneration and rebirth. 2021 Finalist Bendigo Art Show (VIC Australia) 2021 Finalist Lethbridge Landscape Prize (QLD Australia) 2021 Finalist Contemporary Art Room Gallery "Textiles and Patterns" theme (USA) 2022 Finalist Sorrento Art Show (VIC Australia) 2022 Finalist Mornington Art Show (VIC Australia)