One of the basic assumtions of painting a picture is that the artist starts with a broadly defined background and gradually refines the image through overpainting. Patricia Moylan's acrylic on perspex paintings reverse this order. Working on the back of perspex, she has developed a technique in which highlights and finishing touches precede the background. As one might expect of an artist who favours a transparent surface, Moylan's realist paintings are crisply defined and bathed in light. They depict close-to-hand subjects, and have served as a twenty year record of the places and companions the artist has known: urban scenes, verdant backyard gardens and domestic animals. Moylan is currently based in the coastal town of Thirroul, and her new paintings are a celebration of colour and open space. Twilight at Boiler Point recalls the palette of Monet, with golden sunlight illuminating a vast sky of dusky pinks and violets. A full moon rising through clouds completes this paean to the local environment.

exhibition 2006

available works