𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: Field Trip Gallery

1 Latrobe Tce, Paddington

in Gallery 2

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: May 15th - May 28th

𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁: Friday 16th May, 6 - 8PM

𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀:

Thursday: 10am - 2pm

Friday: 10am - 4pm

Saturday: 10am - 4pm

Sunday: 10am - 2pm

Monday: Viewing by appointment only

Tuesday: Viewing by appointment only

Wednesday: 10am - 2pm

𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀:

GOOD GOD (Cael Johnston)

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

In late 2024, I saw a man on his knees by a power pole on a busy road, holding his face with one hand, the other arm wiping tears with his shirt. I remembered thinking of just how red this man’s face must have been to notice this feature from my moving car.

Just above the man was a tattered cross made from those tiny plastic flowers you see littered throughout cemeteries.

I assume they were once yellow, but the sun had evidently shredded the colour long ago.

The power pole had been painted and repainted so many times to honour his loved one, but the colours and hand painted words from underneath remained visible.

‘When it’s my Time to Go’ is an exhibition that wrestles with this tension. The works on wood explore the weight of memory, the permanence of impermanence, and the pain that never quite leaves, no matter how many times we cover it with another coat.

Each painting in this collection is layered and reworked, built up and scraped back, holding within it every stroke that came before.

This collection serves as a stake in the ground, marking the thousands of hours that have been poured onto the canvases and the healing that has occurred whilst moving through the process.

In mid-2023, someone told me they’d never buy my work because it made them uncomfortable. I let go of the comment quickly, choosing instead to be grateful that my paintings made them feel something. When it’s my time to go, that’s all I selfishly hope for… that my life, my work, my journey or my words made you feel something.

‘When it’s my Time to Go’ opens at Field Trip Gallery on Thursday 15th May until Wednesday 28th May, with the launch party taking place on Friday 16th May.