Robert Bowers
Melbourne-based painter Robert Bowers captures everyday suburban snapshots and turns them into whimsical, intimate pieces of art.
Words: Georgie Ward | Photography: Edan Rafferty
Robert Bower’s paintings combine the beauty of nature with the unexpected simplicity of the everyday norm, creating a sense of nostalgia and wonder in his works. To inspire ideas, he looks to his immediate environment of Melbourne suburbia, observing ordinary scenes and everyday scenarios that he brings to life with acrylic paints.
The magic of Bowers’ artwork lends itself to his unique painting style that he has been refining and mastering for well over a decade. Robert’s work hones a duality of colour and texture that is both hazily sun-faded yet crisp and clear.
Highlighting lost scenes of suburbia within lush foliage, his colour palette is bright and fresh with scattered shades of green, and soft, subdued pastels. ‘The way that I choose colour is the way that I see the world, as if I have my own private filter over the moments I capture’, says Robert.
With the wild world as his main theme for his artworks, Robert’s work has seen a liking to streetscapes in particular, over the past 10 years. ‘The reason I keep coming back to streetscape lies in the perpetual combination of colour and light in the neighbourhood; ever evolving and shifting as the seasons change’, says Robert.
His artworks play with this idea of light, transporting us to warm mornings that trickle into mild evenings, from sun-kissed spaces to dusk horizons. To capture these ephemeral moments of light and colour he works from his own photography.
‘Painting enhances reality; reality enhances painting. It’s almost impossible to distinguish one from the other, both compliment each other’, says Robert Bowers.
“Each painting captures a particular experience of mine; making a collection of work feels like a personal diary.”
Robert holds a personal and emotional connection to his artworks. When beginning a painting, he emphasises certain elements of the composition to reinforce the initial emotion he felt when viewing it in real life.
‘I love that painting has changed the way that I experience life, it means I am constantly tuned-in to my surroundings’, says Robert. His favourite subject to paint is awnings, describing them as ‘the sun drenched, washed out, decrepit mission brown and mouldy beige striped delights! Specifically, during dawn or dusk. There’s something in these peaceful objects’.
His creations come in all sizes, from intricate paintings the size of a post card, to large scale murals that obtain the same amount of detail. Robert has held numerous solo exhibitions across Australia over his career and has also been shown in numerous exhibitions across the globe, including New York, London and Singapore.
Robert is currently spending his time exploring new neighbourhoods, practising new techniques and play. Group shows, public works and starting work on his next solo exhibition are also in the cards.
