Exhibition Feature: Plateau, escarpment, valley

Artist Gary Shinfield shares the complex ways in which the wonderous landscape of the Blue Mountains provides inspiration for his artistic practice.

You moved to the Blue Mountains approximately six years ago. Can you tell us how this change of environment has affected the way you think about creating?

To live in the Blue Mountains is to inhabit a high place, on top of a mountain at 1050 metres. It is close to nature, subject to constant change and sometimes extreme conditions. A thread of habitation stretches through vast areas of wilderness: the nest is precarious, fragile and temporary.

This place has a way of seeping under the skin, into the imagination and shaping interior landscapes. Mind and being are permeated by its presence: restless, inspiring and offering a place of refuge.

Certain elements of the physical landscape – plateau, escarpment and valley – become and remain beacons for traversing the ground of the imagination. The plateau is a safe, flat place where human endeavours are played out. The escarpment forges an edge, an abrupt change in direction and a fall into an unknown wilderness. The valley offers verdancy where water flows, and a place of healing and nurturing. This is the landscape of anxiety where physical aspects of place are mirrored in the shifting images of interior spaces.

When I visited you in your studio I was struck by your use of different media and the experimental approach you were taking with your paper works in progress. Can you talk a little about this aspect of your printmaking practice?

In the past I focused mainly on relief printmaking and in particular making woodcuts and etched lino prints. Both techniques attracted me for their potential to create abstract and painterly forms. Since living in the Mountains I have been exploring painting with brush and ink directly onto paper, usually inspired by various land forms. I see myself as an artist who creates predominantly works on paper, using print and autographic processes.

I am also interested in creating works in series, and the exhibition at the Cultural Centre will provide an opportunity and a space to show groups of images usually made in the same session. I have come to regard the group of related images as the finished work. Each time a group is assembled it can take on a new configuration, as placement is often made by chance. This way of working keeps the final image spontaneous and fluid.

The papers I use are mainly handmade and sourced in Thailand, Japan and China, along with various European papers. The underlying presence and aesthetic of paper as the foundation of an image is an ongoing part of my practice.

IMAGE: GARY SHINFIELD Valley 1 2019, unique stateprint (woodcut) on hand-made Thai paper, 6 sheets, 112 x 228 cm, courtesy the artist