I am a multidisciplinary artist based in the Northern Rivers, NSW. My interest is in the urban landscape and the poetic beauty found in lines, shapes and shadows. My work is driven by finding the unusual and unexpected in the everyday.

Growing up in Denmark I was very influenced by my father and grandparents’ interest in architecture and design, in particular Arne Jacobsen who designed their houses and furniture. This kick started my passion for architecture and structural design. These formative years of my life have shaped the way I see the world and how it influences all aspects of my art practice; painting, photography drawing and collage.

The subject matter I tend to work with are structural elements. I am particularly interested in liminal spaces, reflections, pops of colour, larger shapes and line work, becoming integral parts of my compositions. I find interest in the often forgotten and overlooked corners between structures and the repetition found in shadows.

I use drawing and collage to explore the visual cues that capture my attention in every day life. My photography focuses on clean cut compositions and angles, layering images to create unexpected forms and find new inspiration for my paintings.

My process is very instinctive and spontaneous. I like to be ready with a few surfaces at a time so I can go for it, assess later and avoid overworking the one painting. I will generally work with one or two colours on multiple surfaces. Sometimes I’ll add a little touch of something before breakfast, or as I’m walking past the studio. I work fast and intuitively - my work is in a constant state of change, and taking risks is a big part of my practice.

EXHIBITIONS

2018 Group Exhibition - Pack Gallery, Bangalow NSW 

2019 Olive Cotton Photographic Portrait Prize, Finalist - Tweed Regional Gallery, NSW

2021 Lethbridge Landscape Prize, Finalist – Lethbridge Gallery Brisbane QLD

2021 National Photographic Portrait Prize, Finalist – National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

2021 Olive Cotton Photographic Portrait Prize, Finalist – Tweed Regional Gallery, NSW

2022 Group Exhibition, Every Day Climate Crisis, Climarte Melbourne VIC

2022 Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award, Finalist - Lethbridge Gallery Brisbane QLD

2022 National Photographic Portrait Prize, Finalist - National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

2022 HeadOn Portrait Awards 2022, Semi Finalist - Bondi, NSW

2022 Australian Photography Awards 2022, Semi Finalist, Melbourne, Vic

2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize, Finalist - National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

COLLECTIONS

Francis Cloake’s work can be found in private collections in LA, Hong Kong and throughout Australia.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am an emerging photographer in the later part of my life, having laid my camera down for a decade to pursue raising a family.

Judy Oakenfull has a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting) from the Victorian College of the Arts, and has been in many solo and group exhibitions in Melbourne, the Northern Rivers and Queensland. In 2020 she had a successful solo show at the Tweed Regional Gallery. She paints in a contemporary style that emphasises shape, texture and evocative colour. She is interested in our personal and systematic relationships with the natural world and this tends to be the main theme of her artwork and research. In recent work she explores our changing coastline and coastal flora.

Judy Oakenfull CV

Fabien lives and works in Lennox Head, NSW. Straight after getting his Bachelor of Applied Arts from Nîmes University in France, he embarked on a long journey overseas. Years later he went back to France and became a student of French sculptor Eric Chatalin and French painter Nushka. Greatly influenced by French Impressionism, Fabien paints in a gestural contemporary style and explores the structure of figuration. His work emphasises spontaneity, movement, texture and the economy of gesture, seeking the necessary balance for a painting to exist by itself. Painting is a sensory experience.

“I never set out to create a particular response from the viewer, that is definitely out of my control. However, if for a moment, anyone can look at my work and feel as if time has slowed, then that would be the ultimate dream for me. I like to think that people can escape through my paintings. Contemporary life offers very little respite. Painting can be a cure: by slowing down time and creating connections between people, sharing experiences.”

The ocean and the figure hold an important part in his work and he tends to make environmentalism a priority.

FABIEN GARCIA CV

Language and poetry are the elemental source and foundation expressed within

Andrea Newton’s paintings.

The paintings are for me, imbued with a secret, something that feels timeless

and pure.

Working with a limited palette these silvery plays of light are evocative of the

Australian landscape where Newton grew up in Melbourne,

next door to “Heide” with John and Sunday Reed.

Both of whom were very much a creative influence on Newton’s early years

spent exploring the Yarra river bushland.

It is the landscape through which she enters her studio process.

The “Becoming” as she says, what it wants to become, within her own visual

language of mark making and a series of moves that direct her forward on this

seemingly invisible map.

The final painting becoming something to be felt rather than immediately

identified.

After graduating from The National Art School with an honours degree in

painting Newton then participated in a series of six month residencies in Spain.

This time travelling has naturally influenced and informed her visual language.

Newton’s paintings touch something of the eternal within us and surrounding us.

Her works are held in The Spanish Embassy Collection ACT and Art Bank

Australia.

Dr Tara Nicholls.

Former Senior Art Specialist at Deutscher and Hackett.

And senior curator National Gallery of Australia.