Robyn Sweaney – Looking Sideways, Heading West

Robyn Sweaney – Looking Sideways, Heading West

In her first exhibition for Arthouse Gallery, Robyn Sweaney presents a layered exploration of Australian identity and place, wrapped up in a painterly response to the suburban mundane of her local rural environment of Mullumbimby.

Traversing notions of travel, distance and the unknown, Sweaney captures the experience of being lost in the Australian landscape, meandering through small towns and inland cities. The images of tightly refined houses, streetscapes, motels, parks, garages and stores that make up the exhibition are drawn from the artist’s annual road trips, travelling west from the NSW north coast.

“The unease that the journey can bring returns me to a more innocent self,” explained Sweaney. “The white line on the road connects me to the place I have come from to where I am heading.”

Sweaney’s suburban scenes are bright and stark yet oozing with silence. Apparently frozen in time and space, these nostalgic snapshots feel both near and far, as if glanced from a car window. (AM)

Until Mar 12 (Tues-Fri 9.30am-6pm, Sat 10am-5pm). Arthouse Gallery, 66 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Info: arthousegallery.com.au 

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