“It was hit and miss – a lot of misses – then things started to come together before Christmas, and I found a process.”
The works are drawn from Dalfarra-Smith’s memories of the landscapes she has travelled across Victoria’s regional, south-west and high country.
“The majority of the paintings were done this year. It was about getting into a groove and I was just lucky, because it could have turned out quite badly,” she said.
“Even though I have a process and an idea, they can start off looking like one thing, and can end up looking like something else. It’s a risk I’m taking, it’s something different and I hope that people give me feedback whether I’m on the right track or not.”
Dalfarra-Smith said some of the colourful works were completed quite quickly, while others took more time and work.
“I aim to produce something that people might like to hang on their wall, and who wants to hang gloom and doom? If I had wall space, I’d like to hang a couple myself,” she said.
Dalfarra-Smith said the paintings were a result of using large brushes to avoid getting bogged down with too much detail.
“I’ve tried to be more modern, be more progressive in my work,” she said.
“If you do realism, and a lot of people do realism, the paintings could look like someone else’s. I’ve tried to make myself stand out from anyone else who’s doing contemporary work.”
Dalfarra-Smith has exhibited widely across Australia and has work in many public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia.
The exhibition will feature at the gallery until September 1.
– Bronwyn Hastings
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