Lockhart Nights presents new paintings by Hobson musing on community life after dark. The paintings capture a wide spectrum of experiences including the colourful chaos of a new series Run amok. Here the artist revisits some of the challenging realities she sees in her community, particularly with young people balancing boredom and opportunity. Survival on the coast leads us often to fishing and a new series Night Fishing allows the artist to change her palette. Against the darkness of these works is Sunrise songlines, a glowing reminder that the sun always rises.
A large painting measuring 3 metres Ocean Earth demonstrates something of an equilibrium of emotions that are always clearly visible in Hobson’s paintings. Fractured lines bleed into deep marine blue voids. The artist often reflects that such opposing forces echo her own turbulent life, delicately balanced between a sense of apprehension and acceptance. Flames, coral, waves and blood are evident in the imagery, but from that point it becomes a passage into Hobson’s emotional connection with her world.
Image: Samantha Hobson – Ocean Earth 2022 acrylic on canvas 191x302cm
