Swarm Series 2012

The Swarm Series paintings are from two solo exhibitions in 2012, Red Gallery and St Heliers Street Gallery. The exhibition at Red Gallery consisted of a series of swarm paintings and a series of botanical insect collages. The swarm series are painted from moth and butterfly specimens, which have been collected in Victoria and Queensland. Studies from life are intermingled with invented hybrids, referencing scientific illustration and collection. Techniques used in these paintings include thinly applied oil paint, which resembles watercolour and densely layered passages with visible brush strokes. Some of these techniques allude to regeneration, disintegration and the processes of nature. These paintings are a celebration of colour and form, an interaction between the representational and the abstract. Swarm series is inspired by the colour and light depicted in the work of Pierre Bonnard. Many of the paintings feature detailed line work as do the works on paper. The botanical insect collages are made from drawings and paintings of botanical and insect specimens, arranged as portraits. Diagrams and studies are positioned whimsically to create unusual portraits.