With a focus on the glorious landscapes of Mount Macedon, Hanging Rock, and Hepburn Shire, Central Victorian artist Mike Portley will showcase a range of spectacular landscape works in his next exhibition.
Using oil on canvas, wood, and plywood, the medium-sized works vary in texture and colour.
Portley said that the landscape scenes depicted are parts of the Macedon Ranges and Central Victoria that caught his eye.
“I did a whole Hanging Rock exhibition about ten years ago … I really enjoyed the rock formations and some of the interesting imagery and ambiguous imagery in the rocks …it’s very stunning,” Portley said.
“I’ve got a lot … scenes with dead old trees … I’ve enjoyed the contrast between the colours and something that’s dead and something’s that fertile and alive,” he said.
He said that the elevation of the Macedon Ranges contributes to its visual appeal, which was a focus in some of his works.
“The elevation, with the light changes and lots of different cloud formations and cooler air … it’s just the subtlety in the light which is very different to a lot of other regions in Australia at a lower elevation,” he said.
“You do have a lot of space and a lot of interaction with nature … the contrast between the forests and the farming land … is quite an interesting contrast and subject.”
With the official opening on October 26, Central Highlands will be exhibited at Pleysier Perkins Art Space at 89 Wellington St, St Kilda until Saturday, December 7.
Oscar Parry
