Yudha Scholes – At the Forest by the Sea

In early 2022 when on leave from his busy job as a Visual Arts teacher, Yudha retreated from city life to spend time painting in a small shack on the Bass coast of Victoria. During this reflective time, he explored the mystical entanglement of words and imagery of Romantic poets such as Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Lord Byron and William Blake alongside the intensity of the surrounding natural environment.

The result is ‘At the Forest by the Sea’ – a collection of paintings inspired by the unique natural environment of the Ramsar wetlands, an internationally significant ecosystem in the proximity of his rustic studio by the sea.

Rather than merely reproducing the shapes and colours of surrounding scenery, Yudha aims to breathe life and spirit into his paintings, much like the 19th Century Romantic artists and poets who inspired him. Through use of saturated colour and intense contrast, he works to represent and emphasise elusive forms by utilising features of the land, sea and skies as starting points for each emotional and spiritual journey, ending with a realistic or abstract representation.

Inspired by the Romantic poets reverence for intuition and the power of human feeling, Yudha embeds lines of poetry in the titles of his artworks and encourages the viewer to read accompanying poetry whilst viewing the artworks.

RAAC – Just Doing It

RAAC is a grass-roots collective of young artists doing their thing in the creative world after graduating from Art and Design courses at Scotch College Melbourne over recent years. This exhibition is a celebration of the different directions that each of these talented artists has travelled since completing their studies at the college. It is guaranteed to be young, fresh and full of life.

Artworks will be drawn from a diverse range of artforms- by practicing artists, designers, digital artists, film directors, tattoo artists, street art, advertising creatives and animators.

The collective has been set up by passionate curators to support each others’ art practices and encourage the pursuit of excellence in their artmaking. Creating opportunities for commercial ventures and building an audience are also important goals for the group. Ultimately the aim to create a flourishing and supportive creative community is the driving focus of the collective.

We hope you enjoy the show.