![]() Goh Beng Kwan When the River is Full (detail) 1998 mixed media on canvas 56 x 71 cm |
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Different
aspects of the Northern Territory gave differing inspiration to the artists.
Chua Ek Kay was very thoughtful throughout the trip. He made sketches of
trees, shrubs and earth formations, elements that were foreign to him and
interesting enough to be documented. He was absorbed by the tranquillity,
vast open spaces and the timelessness of the ancient rocks. Upon his return
he began to work on a series of landscapes that were minimal in concept,
often just dots or rocks judiciously placed on white rice paper, such as
Stone Island, very meditative and Zen-like. The sounds of silence of the
Northern Territory and sometimes a flight of birds in the evening suggested
to him a method of expressing the emptiness, by filling it with light fleeting
gestures and dots such as the Vivaldis Seasons series. |
I
had never really painted landscape before but Yellow Water inspired me
to make a painting to express the gentle surroundings. Yellow Water was
an unexpected contrast to the arid rocky landscape typical of the Northern
Territory. I think that Ubirr Rock is my best work because all of the
ideas of the traditional Chinese axe cut method of creating a rock came
to me and this helped in creating the rugged form. Later during the trip,
I used the same axe cut style to record Aboriginal cave paintings of kangaroos.
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