ENTANGLEMENT

“Entanglement” began its life as three gnarly trees standing companionably on the edge of the Paroo River at Eulo in Western Queensland. Seen upside down it is a perfectly normal scene with reflections in the water and a dead-ish black tree in the background.

Long story short, in my art practice, I always rotate a painting many times during its creation. This is the best way I know to verify that the emerging composition is balanced and interesting - ie the composition should look good no matter which way up you look at it.

When I turned this painting upside down, I fell in love with it! The three trees transformed into abstract semi-human semi-arboreal figures (but they definitely seemed alive) and they formed a curious trio.

Meanwhile, the black tree in the background somehow gathered some energy and seems to be entangling the three figures together, making it hard for them to escape maybe….

The other reason I love this orientation is that it accentuates the negative spaces. The shapes made between the interlocking branches and trunks. These are very interesting and unusual shapes, and the more you look into them, the more you telescope into their world of colour, texture and design. Of all the artworks I have painted (that’s a lot!), this one is one of the most fascinating to explore, simply by following the negative shapes and the colours within them.