Myopic Landscapes - The Paintings of Phil Ryan: About

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Phil Ryan

Science and art have been integral components of my life from an early age. Science became my occupation but art simmered on in the background as a source of recreation and an outlet for creativity. In the 1980's I started painting close-up views of tree trunks using acrylic paints and board. Since those initial attempts, painting became more and more important until I decided in 2004 to resign from my scientific job and take up painting full time.

Some people criticise science because it supposedly demystifies, classifies and compartmentalises nature. This process is claimed to be contrary to the holist beauty that only an artist can see. I have never understood this claim. My education and research in natural sciences has only increased my appreciation and wonderment at the Australian landscape. Scientific interest in forests, landform and geology has provide the inspiration to depict the infinite variety and beauty of these components of the landscape via painting.

Many of the paintings completed up to 2004 were painted during my annual holidays at Minnie Water, a little village on the north coast of NSW surrounded by the Yuraygir National Park. Special thanks to my good friends Rob and Erna who have allowed me to use their beautiful beach house as a studio. In 2005 I moved from Canberra to a property near the town of Batlow in south east NSW. This will be my base and studio for future work and from where I will concentrate on depicting the alpine landscapes of SE Australia plus special trips to other areas of interest.

The Approach

Myopic Landscapes:
Why paint close-ups of tree trunks, rocks, grass, reeds and dead sticks? Why not mountains, oceans, horses or people?

To those with myopic vision, things in the background are fuzzy, indeterminable, unreliable, and uncertain. Panoramas have little fascination, you are more interested in what's in front of you - the foreground has the sharp edges, clarity and infinite detail. The background is a bad impressionistic painting for the short-sighted.

Myopic Landscapes offers something different from the typical sweeping views and majestic 'Hysenesque' gum trees of many Australian landscape paintings. It is something the artist knows well and admires most - still the Australian landscape - but the one seen by a myopic observer. The devil, and delight, is in the detail right in front of you.

Acrylic Paints:
One of the pleasures of using acrylic paints is that the artist can easily, and quickly, layer colours. Successive layers applied by palette knife, or any other object, can produce an uneven aggraded surface of various colours. This layer's surface roughness then affects where the next layer will adhere, and so on, producing a final seemingly chaotic stratigraphy of partial colour layers that can somehow recombine to produce an arresting effect. Recent work has incorporated various mix media with the acrylic paint to enhance the texture, relief and perspective of the painting.

The Collection

The paintings can be viewed on-line in several different galleries, or viewed in reverse chronological order starting with the most recent painting in the Catalogue.

The rich colours and highly textured style of the work cannot of course be exactly captured on screen. Especially with significant variation between different computer monitor types and settings. The best way to experience the paintings is to view them in an exhibition. >> current exhibition locations

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Phil Ryan

The Approach

The Collection