The work of Tasmanian artist Lorna Quinn explores the sprawling mountain plateaus of Tasmania.
Originally from Victoria, Quinn shares her time between the bustling inner-city lifestyle of Melbourne and the slower-paced, relaxed lifestyle that Tasmania has to offer.
Art practice first started for her as a child, often through drawing the environment around her, with Quinn noting that in the early days of her artistic exploration she was often inspired by early western landscape paintings, German expressionist cinema and painting, alongside British romantic artists such as Samuel Palmer and William Blake.
Through the creation of small-scale oil paintings, Quinn said she is drawn to the drama of mountain and forest forms experienced while hiking in lutruwita/Tasmania.
“Out in the varying and often harsh conditions, I feel the strong weight and density of the natural and social history of the land; through its crags, curves and peaks or its boughs and troughs. It is a potent and vibrating landscape which is a rich source to draw on,” Quinn said.
“I’m interested in sharing encounters that are emotive, that perhaps sit outside of language, through my work. I am interested in the illusory nature of desire, and in the texture of the fantasies that we inhabit in pursuit of it.”
Quinn notes that she finds excitement in the mimicking potential of oil paint, alongside the textural integrations from brushes within her work.
“It is satisfying to see the luminosity that can be achieved through thin layers of translucent paint, and the textures of brush marks embedded in the surface,” she said.
“I spend so much time painting that I will run through the whole gamut of everyday emotions doing it. Boredom, neutrality, frustration, anxiety, fatigue and occasionally periods of exhilaration and excitement. , as I can spend hours and hours working without wanting to step away.”
Lorna Quinn’s practice considers the triangular relationship between landscape, personal experience and painting.
Cosmis Dust, 2022 oil on masonite
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Inseam, (2021), oil on board
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Image courtesy QVMAG