ROBYN SWEANEY 10 – 21 november 2009 iain dawson gallery
Above - Old Pacific Highway #2 acrylic on poly canvas 61 x 61cm
ROBYN SWEANEY 10 – 21 november 2009 iain dawson gallery
"My portraits of houses are really mementos, keepsakes for the future or for myself. These humble, simple homes, depicting the outside view from the street, are like a stage setting, a facade for the bigger memories and lives that have existed and still do, behind the walls." Robyn Sweaney 2009
"Robyn Sweaney’s latest body of work comprising still life paintings, portraits of vernacular architecture and house money boxes with patterns derived from flora all directly negotiate her connection with Mullumbimby, the town in which she currently lives and works. Through the various parts of this new work, Sweaney communicates a distinctly local aesthetic yet characteristically universal experience of what a connection with place might mean, and how places despite their localised experience are never static. For Sweaney especially, the role of documenting the numerous evolutions places go through over time is intrinsic to understanding this body of work.” Excerpt from an essay by Lisa Byrne, Director, Faculty Gallery Monash Art & Design. The publication Robyn Sweaney: The House Beautiful was published by Lismore Regional Gallery with a grant from NAVA (National Association of Visual Artists)
Above right – Heading South acrylic on poly canvas 56 x 67cm Below right – Where to now? acrylic on poly canvas 56 x 67cm
ROBYN SWEANEY 10 – 21 november 2009 iain dawson gallery
I first saw Robyn Sweaney's exquisite paintings when I was invited to a curatorial panel event by the Visual Arts Network and Arts Northern Rivers in 2006. What immediately enthralled me was Robyn's attention to detail and obsessive capturing of the scene's she surrounds herself with. The stillness of the works and the contemplation on these uniquely Australian dwellings work strongly on many levels. Firstly the paintings and drawings are aesthetically beautiful and incredibly evocative. Secondly, I'm increasingly fascinated by the subjects of these works, these wonderful houses, soon to be lost to the collective consciousness, superseded by the 'McMansions' of the new millennia. Robyn's works are a link to our heritage, our collective nostalgia for a simpler, less flashy world. Iain Dawson, 2009 Far from the city acrylic on poly canvas 47 x 100cm Finalist, Sulman prize 2009 Art Gallery of New South WalesÂ
ROBYN SWEANEY 10 – 21 november 2009 iain dawson gallery
Left to right – The Wish acrylic on canvas 36 x 28cm Day dreaming acrylic on canvas 36 x 28cm Once acrylic on canvas 36 x 28cm
iain dawson gallery 72a windsor street paddington nsw 2021 +61 2 9358 4337 gallery@iaindawson.com iaindawson.com