The Colour of Water

The works in The Colour of Water present Ken Smith’s ongoing investigation into the properties of light and colour in the natural and constructed environment of the Mornington Peninsula, the region in which he resides. An exploration of the interface between land, sea, and air, these paintings and archival prints serve as representations of how each elemental contrast can intensify the appearance of the other.

Catalogue essay by Phe Luxford The sea has many faces, and almost as many temperaments as a person. Depending on the conditions of the day; wind, temperature, time, tide or the drift of the organic life held within, its mood and energy will flux and shift. Wine dark, bruised, murky, seaweed green, shimmering like diamonds, glistening like gold, crystal clear or as still and wide as an azure sky.

Walking a shoreline, gazing out at that juncture where the life-sustaining elements of air and water appear to converge, and watching the shifting variations in light and colour is one of the most profoundly restorative experiences. As marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson wrote, “to stand at the edge of the sea is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as earthly life can be.”

For Mount Martha artist Ken Smith the act of keeping watch over the shoreline has been a crucial component of his decade’s long art practice. Dedicating his life's work to observing the shifting qualities of water, a substance found in both the ocean and the sky, his quiet, restrained images pay homage to the atmospheric. His eye is keenly trained, his perception and draughtsmanship sharpened to a point of dazzling accuracy.

Emptied of any extraneous detail and almost verging on the abstract, the meticulous on-site and studio paintings presented in ‘The Colour of Water’ explore what Smith calls the “pictorial tension, the contrasting of opposing universal elements of  horizontal/vertical, light/dark, warm/cool, near/far and the natural/manmade”. Seeking order within the vast and elemental, his images use the vertical forms of the built environment, roof-lines, hand rails and light posts, as a frame for the constant presence of the horizon.

Smith’s compositions draw the eye away from the immediate, away from the here and now, and out toward what lies beyond, to the activities and conditions taking place ‘over there’ – a singular streak of cirrus cloud, a distant sheet of dark grey rain, the slow passage of a container ship, smoke rising from a distant landmark. Everything is rendered with equal clarity, all crystalline and sharply focused. Bright, white light casts strong, well-defined shadows and accentuates the vivid saturation of things. Sky and sea form within calm swathes of tonal gradation, shifting through a spectrum of blues, pinks or greys; darker at the horizon, hazy through the fog, weedy and green nearer the shore, undiluted and pure at the midday zenith.

With an empirical approach to colour selection reflecting a deep understanding of the subtle nuances of atmosphere and perception, Smith allows sky and sea to converge in an orchestration of hues. From the graduated blues of distant horizons to the luminous interplay of light and water, each composition captures the fleeting beauty of nature's palette. As we navigate our way through his evocative compositions, we are reminded of the boundless wonder that lies beyond the horizon and of the enduring power of art to capture an essence of our world in all its vivid complexity.

ARTIST PROFILE:Ken Smith, a former Lecturer in Drawing at MADA, Monash University's Faculty of Art Design and Architecture, has gained significant recognition over his many decades of practice. He has been a finalist in esteemed awards such as the National Still Life Award (2021), the Fleurieu Art Prize, the Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize and the Geelong Acquisitive Print Awards. In 2012 he was awarded the Rick Amor Drawing Prize for his work 'In The Light Of History I' and has been shortlisted for the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, the Heysen Prize, and the Jacaranda Acquisitive Art Award multiple times. His 2012 residency at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland deeply influenced his work, infusing his practice with the unique essence of the Irish landscape. Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery honored Smith's artistic journey in 2014 with a landmark solo exhibition that showcased his profound connection to the region's seaside landscapes. His work is held in prestigious collections such as the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland, Artbank, Leeuwin Estate, the Arbitration Commission, and the Commonwealth Bank. Additionally, his pieces are part of the collections at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Bundaberg Arts Centre, Devonport Gallery and Arts Centre, Grafton Regional Gallery, and the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery.