Exploring ideas around depicting our landscape and the sublime, Zac Moynihan, in collaboration with Side Gallery, presents Out There, an exhibition capturing the beauty and magnetism of our natural world. Working en plein air and reflecting further in the studio, Zac’s connection to place is evident in the hurried, loose brush strokes of the plein air studies, suggesting an outdoor, elemental struggle to get the vista in front of him down with finesse. In contrast, the detailed, disciplined outcomes derived from the studio process elude to a rich and vigorous study of preindustrial revolution painters, lending knowledge and grounding to Zac’s painting style.
The outcomes of Zac’s two different processes at first glance are similar: landscapes painted in oil, both focus on composition with a strong focal point, both present rule of thirds, and are framed in a modern, handmade Tasmanian oak which avoids a feeling of antiquity. Yet the physicality is what puts the two apart. In the Plein air paintings, the rough and loose brush strokes are visible, creating a connection to the artist’s hand and ultimately creating an understanding of the conditions in which Zac worked. The learning phases, education and strategy of an artist continually pushing themself to grow is evident with the highly resolved and finely executed work Zac applies under studio conditions. The two styles, created by two different processes and mindsets, sit in a balanced and considered part extension of the whole. Ultimately, it is clear that both techniques and methods in this body of work pursue a genuine passion for exploring the natural world and a love of painterly expression.
Image: Bunya Boss (Wakka Wakka, Jarowair and Barrumgum Land) 2022, Oil on Panel, 20 x 20 cm
