Patch "Study in Blue #1"

This work explores the similarities and contradictions between being an emerging artist and working in the labour force. Both demand physical effort, repetition and sustained attention, yet offer different freedoms. The rigidity and toughness associated with hard labour contrast with the intuition, vulnerability and openness I find in painting. Moving between these roles allows me to question their expectations and explore where seemingly contradictory parts of my identity coexist. Abstraction offers something my formal working life rarely does: an uncertain outcome, discovered through making. Size: 124cm x 121cm Medium: Oil paint, oil stick, pastel and gouache on recycled hardwood board. Framing: Artist-framed in reclaimed Australian hardwood.