The Light Within

To Read: Article from ABC NEWS 12 September 2020

FLG is pleased to present Melanie McCollin-Walker’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. Drawing upon a combination of memory, observation and emotional sensitivity McCollin-Walker’s evocative landscape paintings directly reference the beauty of the Tasmanian wilderness. Atmospheric, light-filled and intricate, her images resonate with a sense of calm and inward reflection.

A VIDEO WALK THROUGH OF THE EXHIBITION 

Watch Melanie McCollin-Walker discuss the inspiration behind her new exhibition

Artist statement 2020: When I moved to Tasmania a few years ago, I was immediately drawn to its natural beauty and the expansive tributary of rivers that connect everything. The work for this show represents snapshots, moments in time, taken from various road trips including the Forth River near Cradle Mountain and the Derwent River, which runs through New Norfolk on the way to Mount Field National Park. I was so intrigued by the Forth; it was unlike any place I had ever seen. The sheer density of the flora clustered protectively along the river's edge seemed to give it an ancient reverence, echoed by the ethereal beauty the reflections cast across the surface of the water. I remember the sense of tranquility and stillness that overcame me as I found myself transported by the scene which lay before me. It is this sense of escapism that I hope this body of work evokes, windows to another place, and time.

VIEW VIDEO PLAYLIST OF INDIVIDUAL ARTWORKS

Catalogue Essay by Briony Downes, 2020 While working on the multiple layers and intricate details required to complete her meticulously rendered landscape paintings, Hobart-based artist Melanie McCollin-Walker listens to audio books and podcasts. A self-confessed escapist, her genres of choice are science-fiction and fantasy. At first, this seems surprising and a stark contrast to the high realism of her painting style. However, with further reflection, it becomes clear there is a significant connection between McCollin-Walker’s favoured listening companions and how she chooses to depict the landscape.

When speaking about the images she creates, McCollin-Walker likens them to portals to other worlds, a window to somewhere else. Uninhabited by humans, they invite us to imagine places beyond our everyday reality, to revel in the mystery of the natural world. When choosing her subjects, McCollin-Walker favours mist covered waterways and dense forests, places steeped in the reservoirs of memory and all that has gone before. Approaching her paintings as evocations of emotion, McCollin-Walker’s work does not encapsulate the traditional postcard view of glorious mountains and crystalline lakes, but the flickering glimpses caught out of the corner of our eye and the feelings left long after they pass.

One of the most striking features of McCollin-Walker’s paintings is their innate ability to draw the eye deep into the central point of the image. An off-centre river or meandering body of water often beckons us to look closer, leading us further into the picture plane. Light filled clouds boiling with energy overhead are reflected in the still water below and flanked by an ever-encroaching forest. Through masterfully applied layers of darkness and light, McCollin-Walker persuades us into the landscape, guiding the viewer into unknown places possessing an elusive mystery that can only be filled by our imagination.

Throughout her creative practice, McCollin-Walker has gleaned much inspiration from British painter J.M.W. Turner. While in London at the close of 2019, McCollin-Walker visited Tate Britain to view a collection of the 19th century artist’s work. Captivated by the consistency of detail in Turner’s canvases, she draws attention to his expert use of colour and texture to depict light and shadow, where every stroke of paint on the canvas, whether structured or loose, is a considered choice. In The Light Within, McCollin-Walker pushes her own experimentations with light and shadow into additional realms in a series of charcoal drawings featuring generous expanses of negative white space coupled with the dense shadows of heavily wooded riverbanks.

Many of the paintings in The Light Within are based on landscapes found in Tasmania, where McCollin-Walker has lived – by way of Barbados, London and Singapore – for the past several years. Of particular influence is the Forth River, a lengthy waterway winding its way down from the lush, green pastures of north-west Tasmania to the snow-capped highlands of the Central Plateau. Driving near its banks on a recent trip to the dolerite peaks of Cradle Mountain, McCollin-Walker was struck by how the river seemed to go on for miles, flowing deeper and deeper into ancient forests and mountains. Looking into McCollin-Walker’s new paintings feels much the same way - like glimpses into a world both familiar and strange, they offer us a moment to escape into the quiet majesty of uncharted territory.