Anita West

Artists Statement

I am fundamentally a landscape painter. All of my work is based purely on my love for this land, and my passion for its unique beauty. I love the chaos of the bush, the ‘inspirit’ of the rocks and trees, the dryness of the earth and the layers of history and culture that are intricately woven within it.

My painting is very process orientated. I paint in layers of emotive colour and marks that bury and redefine images, imperfections, motifs, and perspectives. I have a natural feeling for ornament and pattern and have many cultural influences including those of Persian miniatures, Asiatic art, and indigenous paintings. I love vast empty spaces with arbitrarily scattered objects and the glimpses of things buried, lost, forgotten in the chaos of life. I love the idea of storytelling and try to create narratives in my paintings. Simplifying spaces and revealing possibilities from underlying structures is a technique I often play with but essentially the work is about trying to find poetry and truth within the subject. I am searching for a romantic way of revealing beauty and quietness of the Australian bush, our way of life and our connection with land.

I grew up in Townsville and spent my childhood riding horses through the dry bushland hills and camping amongst the eucalypts. In my twenties I was a jillaroo in NSW and Victoria on sheep and cattle farms and my love of the Australian bush is what I am always trying to infuse into my paintings.