Artist's Statement / Relativity | Rudy Kistler

This body of work is the outcome of an extended residency in South Hill, Goulburn that began in the winter of 2010 and finished with the opening of this exhibition. It has been an amazing spring and summer, and the abundance of rainfall made for a particularly fecund landscape. As a plein-air painter, the inspiration for my paintings is always relative to the conditions of my surroundings.

My love of strong, saturated colours found its expression in the variety of flora that was in continual bloom and decline. I split my time painting between the property at South Hill, and one of Goulburn’s oldest cemeteries. Following a similar intention to my last body of work, which focused on Australia’s fruit orchards, I am offering a view of the Australian landscape that departs from the traditional focus of bushland and gum trees.

In 2010 I was granted Australian citizenship, and this body of work bears witness to my attempt to both assimilate into the culture, and contribute to the rich tradition of Australian landscape painting.

A special thanks goes out to Roland and Linda Gumbert of South Hill, for their wonderful generosity during my residency. Thanks also to Cherry Hood, Zuza Zochowski, and Shaun Morrow for their support and encouragement.

This exhibition is dedicated to my parents, Randy and Carol Kistler, who have always stood behind me offering me their unconditional love and support to my monomaniacal pursuit of aesthetics.

 

Rudy Kistler