Tannya Harricks: Symbiosis

‘Meet the Artist’ 1 – 3pm Saturday 3 September 2022 – RSVP Essential

“I am interested in the symbiotic relationship between nature and humankind. Imagining a future where this relationship is mutually beneficial, respectful and balanced, not parasitic.

"In the 1930s, Abstract Expressionist Hans Hoffman coined the term “push and pull”. I am interested in the connections between the “push and pull” of both painting and of nature: how to balance the warm and cool; seasonal extremes; surface and depth; destruction and regeneration; and history with the present. Exploring the physicality of paint and charcoal, as material without premeditation, allows me to express what the artwork requires while editing and abbreviating the scene or subject. The action of layering, moving, and scraping off paint creates a foundation that becomes part of the geology of the painting.

"I aim to fill my paintings and drawings with the energy that I have absorbed from my favourite places along the NSW coast. Thinking about regeneration and cycles of life, 50 years on this planet, looking, contemplating, drawing and painting, to try to understand it through an artist’s eye.” – Tannya Harricks, 2022

“They took all the trees, put ‘em in a tree museum.” – Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi, 1970