Alison Aplin, ‘Gently Moving Clouds’ (detail), 2022, oil on stretched canvas, 80 x 120cm. Image courtesy of the artis
Jazzing Up Oils
Alison Aplin
13 November 2023 – 8 April 2024
As an artist who loves colour, I enjoy using oils. All the works exhibited have had finger painting as part of the technique. The finger painting is done quickly, moving rapidly over the board. This then enabled a lightness of subject, and also allowed lower layers to show though, adding to the depth of the painting.
Patterning has been used with the larger paintings, as a contrast to the finger painting. Each work is multi-layered and represents something to do with the environment, a legacy of my landscape design business.
Colour and depth are constants with each piece, but there is no intended repetition of palette throughout the range. I am not committed to the need for negative space. I’m more interested in the balance of each work, the movement of the eye throughout the painting, tonal variations, contrast, and depth.
Reflecting my broader art practice, this series has been driven by process and is strongly influenced by the abstract expressionist style, principles of design from my long career as a designer, my love of nature, and desire for environmental well-being.
I am a former Registered Nurse from the old RAH. I loved my nursing training – the patient care and camaraderie with fellow nursing students. Now as an artist, I have come to believe in the value of art for wellbeing, not just for the artist themselves, but also for the viewer. My work is bold and colourful; work that I have been told is exciting. This emboldens me to continue with my abstract expressionism as it enables me to create work that resonates to the viewer in a happy context. I believe art can help in the healing process, especially for those with mental health issues. Having experienced childhood trauma myself, I know firsthand the positive effect of bright and cheerful art.
Alison Aplin is an abstract artist living and working on Gunditjmara country.
Alison’s work is featured by ARTIFACT, Manhattan, New York and has been represented in collaborations with the Van Gough Art Gallery at the Paris Contemporary Art Fair, September 2021, and the Luxembourg Art Fair, 16th to 18th September 2022.
Recent solo exhibitions include Blenheim Gallery and Garden, October 2022, Lonsdale, Tasmania; Julia Street Creative Space, March 2023, Portland, Victoria and with Red Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne in June 2023.
Alison also has a significant Instagram presence and is now a verified influencer – @alisonaplinartist
Alison Aplin, 'Gently Moving Clouds' (detail), 2022. Image courtesy the artist.
Alison Aplin, 'Tadpoles in the Rockpool' (detail), 2022. Image courtesy the artist.
Alison Aplin, 'Webbing of Tree Roots' (detail), 2022. Image courtesy the artist.
Alison Aplin, 'Gently Moving Clouds' (detail), 2022. Image courtesy the artist.
Alison Aplin, 'Tadpoles in the Rockpool' (detail), 2022. Image courtesy the artist.
Alison Aplin, 'Webbing of Tree Roots' (detail), 2022. Image courtesy the artist.
