Abstract art bridges landscape and life

A local creative is showcasing six years’ worth of works blending Australia’s natural landscapes with traditional Zen technique.

On show at the Old Butchers Shop Gallery, Joshua Mack’s An Unfinished Circle exhibition is for him the culmination of his latest abstract endeavour exploring the intersection between his “internal landscapes” and those of real life.

Having moved to Ballarat about a year after relocating to Enfield in 2016, he said being closer to the bush has definitely been an influence on his yearslong pursuit.

“You’ll see different styles in there but they’re not really intentional. I’m responding to my internal geography,” he said.

 

“That’s drawn from my experiences like camping a week out in the Grampians. I also went to New South Wales and Kosciuszko last year.

“I’m a city boy. I was raised most of my life in Melbourne and only came to the country about 10 years ago so having that proximity to places like the Grampians, and around Ballarat, has definitely been an inspiration.”

 

The influence of the natural landscape on Mack’s collection can be seen in the works themselves.

He’s used natural and locally-sourced materials in creating the mixed media works, 29 of which are on paper and five sculptural.

Clay and natural ochre from Black Hill, and Enfield’s Misery Creek, have been utilised as well as timbres foraged from around the region.

Mack first began working with clay four years ago, and said Zen calligraphy also became a prominent influence on the collection about two years ago.

“With that whole idea of ensō, they make a circle with a single stroke,” he said.

“It’s about whatever the artist can make with that one gesture. They don’t try and change it so it’s the possibility for mistakes and the unfinishedness of it that’s key for me.

“That’s where the title comes from. I’ve been very interested in the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi, which is the idea of honouring things that are unfinished.”

 

 

The exhibition is not only Mack’s first since 2018 following a group exhibition in Eltham’s Montsalvat, but his first in Ballarat since moving to the region.

“I’ve been working up to this for about two years so I’m pretty excited to see this body of work, six years of practice, in the one space,” he said.

“It’ll be interesting to see the response because with abstract work, it’s often what the viewer sees that’s most important.”

An Unfinished Circle is on show until January 26.