Karlee Rawkins - Dark Wood Land

Underpinning her poignant imagery of wildlife and flora is an examination of the symbolic or totemic meanings nature holds within the human psyche. Inspired by the Hunting Tapestries in the Victoria & Albert Museum collection, her fresh and vibrant paintings signal a more empathetic attitude toward the untamed. These works displace their cast of hunters, horses, dogs, birds, trees and flowering plants from their battle scenes and give them an opportunity to appear on their own terms, presenting an alternative relationship between animal and man.
Attracted to the ways in which pattern and line intersect with form and colour, Rawkins’ skillfully integrates discernible representation with subtle abstraction. Pointed ears become daring triangles, nimble legs yield to their verticality and wings splay out to form intersecting globes across the picture plane. This dexterous sense of composition and lively mark making is captivating, revealing both child-like veneration and sophisticated appreciation for the form and character of her subjects. Thus Rawkins’ paintings hold within them a range of concerns from the personal to the global, questioning our relationship to nature and more broadly to themes of mortality and even extinction.
The recipient of The Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship and a two-time finalist in the Prometheus Art Award, Rawkins has also held a 5 months residency at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris. Rawkins trained at Southern Cross University and has exhibited extensively since 1994.