A monthly selection of notable recent works by various artists. All works (2014)
Paul S. Miller Flood Debris
This long watercolour depicts a small stretch of the
Turon River that lies between Hill End and Sofala,
in New South Wales. The figure standing to the far
left is my friend Tim Stokes who owns the property
he calls Yellow Box. His side of the now-calmed
river, in which gold can still be panned, is 100 acres
of rocks and yellow box gum trees.
The image allows the viewer, like Tim, to scan
this small vista before them. The title Flood Debris
suggests a range of possible interpretations and
approaches to reading this work. This rough and
unforgiving landscape for me holds a mystery. The
light and colours are slightly subdued by an
overcast sky. There is a sense of unease in this
stillness and calm, as the eye slips along the trunks
of the broken trees and on to the shimmering still
water. The figure peers to the left, up the river, from
where the source and force of floodwaters had come
to shape the elements that he sees before him now.
The tangled trees, the uprooted trunks, and across
the stream a colonnade of trees just off centre keeps
our eyes moving and wandering.
Here the figure invites reflection on our
relationship to the world around us, the flood debris
symbolic of the events and experiences that shape
our path through life.
www.gallery78.com/pmiller.htm