ACCA @ MIRKA AT TOLARNO HOTEL: JUDITH VAN HEEREN

19 Aug–15 Nov 2008

Gallery Room at Mirka, Tolarno Hotel St Kilda

With an ongoing interest in the preservation and conservation of nature, Judith Van Heeren’s work draws together imagery from a variety of sources. Timely in its conception, given potential environmental disasters looming, the six paintings at Mirka were exquisitely rendered and yet static, like a still life, reflecting her interests in the painting techniques of the Dutch masters. Much like a natural history museum diorama, Judith Van Heeren finds pieces of nature and painstakingly re-renders them into ideal, but uneasy landscapes in a form suitable for human consumption. This is made all the more palatable through her employment of the technique grisailles – a form of monochromatic painting where the tones of one colour are used to produce a three dimensional effect – breathing life into these still forms.

Rather than documenting nature for us, Judith Van Heeren paints what she sees as our view of nature and by doing so shows us how distant from it we have in fact become.

Commissioning Curator: Juliana Engberg

In the Press
3 September, Herald Sun, Art from nature's heart

Presented by

San Pellegrino