Victor Ou
Fairvale High School
PULCHRA TACITA CAELUM (BEAUTIFUL SILENT SKY)
Painting
Gouache
Pulchra Tacita Caelum (Beautiful Silent Sky) provides an opportunity for the audience to view the fleeting qualities of the sky and clouds, and remember our sense of awareness in a world where we tend to keep our heads held low. My intent is to represent the ethereal tides of time through moments where the sky speaks a beauty that often goes unnoticed. It is my personal representation of an aesthetic but also a collective experience that individuals have with the heavenly allure of the sky. No matter the time or place, the sky is there, ever changing yet always the same.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Fiona Barrett-Clark; Yang Maoyuan, Sky; Bill Henson.
Marker's Commentary
This large series of small paintings explores serene skyscapes at different times of morning, day, evening and night. Low horizon lines enable the focus to be on the sky and clouds. The play of light, which changes dramatically in each painting, supports the aesthetic and spiritual exploration. Realism is couched in abstraction and a romantic use of colour creates notions of the sublime in the silhouetted forms and rolling clouds. The viewer’s eye is drawn to the spectrum of colour where multiple shades and tones offer sophistication and subtlety. A sense of wonder is evoked in the properties of light. The paintings recreate the many moods of nature and sky as well as the poetic landscape of the imagination.
