Artist's Statement: I have always felt a strong allegiance to and admiration for paintings with a certain stillness; in painting, I don't like noise. In your mindís eye, consider the remarkable simplicity and silence of Fra Angelico's frescoes painted in the cells of the San Marco monastery. Most recently I have been emptying out my paintings — no vulgar brush strokes and no detail to distract — just gently modulated pigment to activate flat shapes of colour. I want the visual response to my new paintings to be rapid, if possible, after which the viewer, should he or she wish, can invest further time in unpacking the content, or in discovering the paintings' secrets. By seeking this pictorial suddenness, formally speaking my aim is to avoid the 'expressionistic', and to privilege instead the flatness of the paintingís surface.
Read MoreWhen I need to imply pictorial space or volume, this can be achieved by the shallow modelling of forms that in part derives from my interest and affection for medieval fresco painting. This intent is also in keeping with contemporary painting practice; it addresses the limits and limitations of the canvas as I consciously fasten all elements of the image to the regular shape of the picture support. A reading of the resultant work functions vertically and horizontally - not 'in' or 'out' and such a reading not only acknowledges but includes the act of painting as subject.
Euan Heng was born in Oban, Argyllshire, Scotland in 1945. Between 1960 and 1970 he was employed in various occupations, including four years as a merchant seaman travelling world- wide. The artist gained diploma and post diploma qualifications from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee and a Research MA from RMIT University, Melbourne.
Since 1973 he has held thirty-three solo exhibitions in Australia, Scotland and Italy and participated in over seventy group exhibitions in Australia and internationally. His work is represented in public and university museum collections in all states of Australia and Scotland. Illustrated essays, articles and reviews on his work have been published in all major Australian newspapers and fine art journals. Other activities of the artist have included teaching and currently he holds the adjunct position of Associate Professor in Fine Art at Monash University, Melbourne. He has participated in visiting artist/lectureships and residences in Australia and overseas including the Australia Council Residency at the British School at Rome in 1999 and a Royal Scottish Academy Residency in Scotland in 2010. In 2004 he received the Australian Council for University Art and Design Schools Distinguished Research Award. Euan Heng lives and works in Melbourne.
