Ancient River, River Red by Emily Imeson
Emerging artist Emily Imeson’s latest exhibition at Saint Cloche gallery is a deeply emotive visual paean to the Australian landscape.
Words: Hande Renshaw | Photography: Jacqui Turk & Keiran Rangerr
Emily Imeson painting in Tyweltherreme (Ruby Gap), land belonging to the Western Arrernte people. Photo - Keiran Rangerr.
Dusk Range by Emily Imeson from her exhibition Ancient River, River Red, at Saint Cloche gallery. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
Aussie Ringneck by Emily Imeson from her exhibition Ancient River, River Red, at Saint Cloche gallery. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
“I learnt to listen to the land, adopt the patience, humility and adaptability required to yield to nature’s course,” says Emily Imeson. Photo - Keiran Rangerr.
Emily Imeson uses the Australian bush as her studio. Parking her four wheel drive amongst the red earth and gum trees, she invites the rich and earthy colours of the landscape onto her canvas. Emily continuously takes herself into the land, exploring ways to translate her experience into paintings.
Her perspective and passion for the Australian landscape and the long-standing connection First Nations Australian’s have with the country is intrinsically embedded in everything Emily creates. And her latest exhibition, Ancient River, River Red at Saint Cloche gallery, is no exception.
The collection includes work captured during the artist’s time traveling across Tyweltherreme (Ruby Gap), Tjoritja (West McDonnell Ranges), Wurre (Rainbow Valley) and Finke Gorge National Park during spring 2020.
Here she was confronted with dry creek beds guarded by river reds, and accompanied by rolling orange sand dunes, pink clay pans, colourful, boisterous birds, sunbaked reptiles, humble desert oaks, and opportunistic wildflowers, leading her to oasis camps.
“I worked on days that were too hot to think, contrasted by days of cold winds and constant rain — painting ‘en plein air’ was guided by the flux of this time- honoured place,” says Emily.
Unsurprisingly, Emily was the recipient of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2020 and completed a residency in Shark Island Institute in Kangaroo Valley last year.
To say that Emily has a bright future as an artist would be an understatement, we can’t wait to see where the road takes her next.
Moonlight Range, by Emily Imeson from her exhibition Ancient River, River Red, at Saint Cloche gallery. Photo - Alicia Taylor.
Major, Major – Dusk, by Emily Imeson from her exhibition Ancient River, River Red, at Saint Cloche gallery. Photo – Jacqui Turk.
River Red, Study – Dusk, by Emily Imeson from her exhibition Ancient River, River Red, at Saint Cloche gallery. Photo – Jacqui Turk.
Emily Imeson painting at Finke Gorge, land traditionally owned by the Western Arrernte people. Photo – Kieran Rangger.
“I wanted the fluidity of the land to be evident in the works, light washes of acrylic paint autonomously moved across the canvas.”
“I find the immediacy of painting from life, and the distortions resulting from processes of remembering, an engaging way to articulate human experience,” says Emily Imeson.
VISIT
ANCIENT RIVER, RIVER RED 27TH JANUARY - 7TH FEBRUARY 2021 SAINT CLOCHE 37 MACDONALD STREET, PADDINGTON, SYDNEY