A Place in the Landscape, Half Way Home – two interpretations of Australians in the landscape.

For centuries the world over, artists have questioned and commented upon the relationship between mankind and nature. In Australia, after years of drought and then recent floods, they question whether we live in harmony or are at odds with our environment.

Does man impose himself on nature and always seem misplaced, lonely and alienated or does he blend easily with the beauty of the landscape and seem to be in balance and harmony?

This is the question posed by two contemporary artists in their exhibitions at Falkner Gallery, 6 October – 27 November.

The works of David Frazer from Castlemaine portray a familiar yet lonely, anonymous world populated by abandoned houses, farmyards and deserted roads. His exhibition ‘Half Way Home’ displays his view of the landscape as being ‘melancholic rather than merely bucolic’. Various misplaced and alienated characters inhabit the environment. A lost dog wanders about near an old deserted caravan and dead trees; an alienated man clings forlornly to a dead tree trunk, longing to escape.

Man and his possessions seem at odds with the landscape beyond.

Four-plate colour etchings, intricately detailed wood engravings and atmospheric lithographs display his mastery of technique as well as his ability to capture enigmatic emotions of longing for something past and something new, often with humour.

David is a highly regarded painter and printmaker who has held numerous solo and group exhibitions since the 1990s. His work is held in international, national and regional collections and he has won major art prizes in Australia and overseas. A 2007 ABC television documentary ‘Artist at Work’ offered a wide audience an insight into his printmaking inspiration and practice.

Meanwhile, in Carole Bullock’s exhibition, sensuous figures playfully hide amidst fallen boughs, lush river beds and majestic cliffs, always a part of and in harmony with their surroundings. Her large paintings, dramatic etchings and evocative drawings explore the linear energies seen or felt that run through everything, like a life force. She alludes to the strength and fragility of the world around us. Ideas are portrayed in the visual interplay of light and dark, positive and negative, in order to explore the tempestuous relationship between humankind and nature.

For over four decades, Carole has participated in international and national exhibitions. She has taught art, art history and theory for many years, and has also worked in related arts fields such as theatre [set design, costume and makeup], publishing [designing and illustrating] and couture fashion. Like David Frazer, her work is held in numerous collections both in Australia and overseas.