Paul Davies
select available works
Paul Davies – artist statement
The focus of my work is the relationship between the built and natural environments. It is based on appropriation, as the works are created using stencils, which are hand cut and painted to juxtapose, repeat and mirror subjects.
The subjects include houses and landscapes from a variety of contrasting locations, which once stenciled, impose a structural order over the various backgrounds upon which it is painted. This process, for me, refers not just to the way Australia, since colonisation, has imported architectural styles to strive for a cultural identity. It also highlights the “struggle” against what is seen as the unforgiving natural environment.
Stenciling in essence repeats the ideals and anxieties associated with the original subject, but the relationship between the original and its reproduction is blurred through this process. This is analogous with the way architectural styles have been appropriated in the Australian context.
Much of the work depicts the modern home, devoid of human form, inviting the viewer to inhabit the space. This process evokes a sense that, despite the nostalgic appearance of the image, the observer is in the present tense, with the anxiety of an unknown future open to interpretation.
While the house’s exterior is depicted in detail, the nature of the interior is only implied. The absence of human form adds to the mystery of the possible reality existing within. The reasons these spaces are vacant remain unclear, and invite the viewer to project their own narrative onto the image.
Select Solo Exhibitions
- Paul Davies – Flattening Sublime
OLSEN IRWIN - Paul Davies – Pentimento – Art Month
Tim Olsen Gallery - Paul Davies – 'Portraits' at the Gold Coast Regional Gallery
- Paul Davies – 'Portraits' Satellite Exhibition at Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
Tim Olsen Gallery - Paul Davies – Hanmer
Tim Olsen Gallery - Paul Davies – New Paintings 2009
Tim Olsen Gallery - Paul Davies – New Paintings 2008
Tim Olsen Gallery - Paul Davies – Recent Paintings 2007
Tim Olsen Gallery - Paul Davies – Recent works 2006
Tim Olsen Gallery
Select Group Exhibitions
VIDEOS