ROB HOWE
Just Like Stars Shine Over the Wave
27 September - 19 October 2024
Rob Howe in conversation with Elisa Trifunoski following his recent Gang Gang Artist Residency, 14 June - 5 July, 2024, on Yuin Country/Cuttagee, on the far South Coast of NSW. The exhibition ‘Just Like Stars Shine Over the Wave’ presents the paintings Rob Howe created during that time.
Tell us about what's been happening in your studio?
Lots of playing around with still life. I'm wanting to paint more from life than from secondary sources yet I don't want to leave the comfort of my studio. Setting up a still life, however, doesn't come naturally to me so I'm trying to nut out how to do that in a way that works for me. That and plenty of drawing and experimenting with coloured pencils. I always seem to have a bunch of landscapes on the go too.
You recently undertook a residency at Gang Gang on Yuin Country/Cuttagee on the NSW South Coast - tell us about this experience? Was it the first time doing a residency there?
It was amazing. It was my first time at Umbi Gumbi. The house and studio and property is overwhelmingly beautiful. And so is the generosity and support of Jessie and Fred (the owners) for setting up and maintaining the residency and sharing the space. I found the isolation and stillness confronting (similar to a noble silence in a meditation retreat). I had thought I was generally pretty relaxed heading into my time there but was able to see that I was in fact quite wound up from day-to-day life at home and really needing to de-stress! To be fully immersed in nature is the best way to do that. My family were only able to stay with me for a couple of days due to work and school commitments, and I found their absence profound when they left me to go back home. That felt bittersweet and hard and healthy and beautiful all at once.
What was your routine during the residency? Did this influence your work and flow?
I would wake and stretch and walk and read and think and do handstands and potter about until after lunchtime. I'd then hit the studio and make myself stay (only taking a break for a sunset walk) until I'd at least blocked in one new painting that day. After that (usually at around 8 or 9 pm) I'd go find an LP to play whilst I made dinner and be in bed by about 10 or 11.
Interestingly this routine was not at all what I'd planned! Prior to the residency I thought the routine would look like something quite opposite to this but no.
I remember chatting with you on the phone as you were driving back from down south, and while the reception was sketchy your joy about your work and the studio time you had at Gang Gang was palpable. Can you share more about what happened?
The studio is awesome. Spacious and beautiful and for me so conducive to making good work. I relished the opportunity to be able to work uninterrupted, and to immerse myself in my practice and focus on the direction I want the practice to head. It's so critical for artists to be able to do this from time to time. And the work flowed - I was happy to so quickly work out how to represent my experience in a way that I feel suits me and is true to my voice.
What would you say your biggest breakthrough was during your time making these paintings?
My biggest breakthrough was a happy accident forced upon me by the conditions. Being on the far South Coast in the middle of winter, the cold air drastically slowed the oxidisation (drying time) of the oil paint. I was made to wait longer than usual before going back over each painting with subsequent layers. So I would just go and start another painting and by the time I'd get back to the earlier ones I'd forgotten about any preconceived idea of what it might look like when I'd begun the picture. I was more able to go where the painting was wanting to take me. I'm trying hard to bring that back into my studio at home - waiting a little longer and let a painting sit a while before going at it again, if at all.
