Marlo Neumann
Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School
ROOMS OF THE ARTIST'S EARTHLY PLANE.
Painting
Acrylic on canvas
Rooms of the Artist's Earthly Plane is a triptych examining both my personal journey and the broader human experience. Inspired by mythology and history, my body of work investigates the impacts of concepts of faith, death, afterlife and judgement while commenting on modern issues such as the rise of generative AI. My intention in incorporating symbols, literary and artistic references and personal allusions was to encourage the audience's inherent curiosity, discovering details and making their own interpretation about the underlying meaning. The work itself sustained smoke damage from a fire, giving it a yellowed and aged appearance.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Salvador Dali; René Magritte; Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights; Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy; AES+F, Liminal Space Trilogy; Sven Nordqvist; Ben Quilty; Michelangelo; Ten Hundred; Abdul Abdullah.
Marker's Commentary
Rooms of the Artist’s Earthly Plane is a triptych series of surreal acrylic paintings featuring a recurring skeleton figure. The highly accomplished painting demonstrates a sophisticated understanding and manipulation of acrylic paint and colour. The painterly and expressive brushwork is evident throughout the work, particularly in the outstanding use of light within each scene, to create a moody and mysterious atmosphere. The work contains strong art world references to surrealism and vanitas, with numerous artworks referenced and reimagined. Conceptually, the work keeps unfolding with layers of meaning. There is a strong narrative quality throughout the work, with the selection of symbols and objects which have historical and contemporary cultural significance.
The deliberate and considered composition of the skeleton figure and still life objects explore themes of time, death and the after life. The intentional choice of black and gold frame in this work, references Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. The repeated motif of the skull affixed to the top of each frame acts like a portal or window into this surreal scene, and emphasises the shallow, claustrophobic sense of space in the two vertical panels.