Amber Hearn
Incorporating vivid palettes and organic mark-making, Australian abstract artist Amber Hearn’s works are inspired by memories and her connection to the natural world.
Words: Holly Terry I Photography: Tash Yuncken & Tom Hearn
‘I‘ve found the most consistent part of my life was my relationship to the natural world around me, I felt at home when I was alone in the natural world, immersed in the space. My interest in painting the landscape has developed from this place,’ says Amber Hearn. Photo: Tom Hearn
‘I am most authentic and intuitive when I’m working within the sphere of the landscape, and drawing on those spaces and memories that connect me to the natural world,’ says Amber Hearn. Photo: Tash Yuncken
Australian abstract artist Amber Hearn has a serious knack for pairing colour and form. Her vivid works are known for their bright palettes, organic brushstrokes and unique conceptual shapes.
Having recently been included in a number of art prizes (Amber was a finalist in the Paddington Art Prize and the 2020 Glover Art Prize, to name a few), Amber is certainly one to watch.
The artist’s works are bright and gestural; her otherworldly abstract paintings will transport you to another place at the very first glance. Inspired by the memories of natural spaces she has inhabited and felt a connection to, much of Amber’s work is a personal interpretation of the feeling or interpretation of a place she’s been.
‘Often I’m not even painting the exact place but more of a world that represents a particular moment in time,’ says Amber.
A master of organic shapes and original mark-making, Amber is particularly interested in colour to create space, balance and tension within a painting, ‘I use a lot of colours that would normally clash, however, I like to play in a way that brings a little bit of ugly into the mix, to highlight the beautiful, just like you wouldn’t notice the silence without the noise in a piece of music,’ she shares.
‘I like to mix majority of my colours from scratch, I very rarely use paint straight out of a tube. I spend a lot of time on this, and it’s a significant part of what goes into making my paintings uniquely me, it also frees me up gesturally as I have a line-up of colours that I have pre-mixed and planned in-advance, so I can work quite quickly whilst laying them on the canvas… this is my favourite space to be and it’s when I feel most authentic in my practice.’
Lilac Mirror by Amber Hearn.
‘I feel like by the point [I am painting] I am very much in my ‘zone’ and the vigorous, gestural, fast paced mark making begins to happen quite intuitively as I have laid all the groundwork, so now I can be quite free and in the moment,’ says Amber Hearn. Photo: Tash Yuncken
“For me, painting is just an extension of memories, feelings and spaces I’ve inhabited, finding their way onto the canvas, as if they are just extending out of me in the form of paint.”
The unfiltered way the artist describes the processes behind her work is refreshing and raw; not often do I meet someone who’s willing to celebrate imperfection.
For Amber, it’s the mixing of paint that takes up her time, however, rapidly applying marks and colour to canvas allows her to create imperfect, fluid marks - an important symbol of the bodies presence within the landscape of her work.
‘I work in a way that allows me to let go of attachments to outcomes. I often paint over and over a work, and lots of life and death takes place during this process. The works that I feel are my most successful, have often been created and destroyed a few times before coming to completion.’
Recently featured in shows at Curatorial+Co. gallery in Sydney; Arcadia Street Gallery in Noosa and Weswal Gallery in Tamworth, a small handful of remaining works can be viewed and acquired via the gallery websites. To come, Amber is involved in conversation with a gallery in Melbourne, so be sure to keep an eye on her Instagram for more details.
