Local artist paints the feelings evoked by the Australian landscape

OCEAN Grove artist Gordon Lingard is inviting viewers to slow down and reconnect with the Australian landscape through his latest exhibition, Face of the Waters, now showing at The Hive Gallery.

Running until 31 May, the exhibition marks Lingard’s fifth solo show and continues a body of work shaped by decades of travel, faith and reflection.

Lingard, who works as a chaplain at Geelong Grammar School, has devoted much of his spare time to painting, building on a practice that began in his university days.

The works in his latest exhibition were inspired by recent trips to the Flinders Ranges and central Australia, where dry riverbeds and ancient formations prompted a shift in his perspective.

“I went on a trip to the Flinders Ranges about a year ago and in one particular location, the pinnacles, where once there was water all around here,” he said.

 

The experience led Lingard to begin imagining water flowing back through landscapes long since dried.

That idea followed him home to Ocean Grove, where the constant presence of the sea deepened the theme.

“I walk by the ocean every day and see container ships,” he said.

“I realised that water was becoming a big theme in my paintings.”

The exhibition’s title is drawn from a biblical reference, reflecting Lingard’s background in ministry.

He said painting is part of his worship and a chance to explore the awe he feels at the Australian natural landscape.

“It’s about just being appreciative and having gratitude for the incredible place where we live,” he said.

Born in Germany and raised in the United Kingdom, Lingard moved to Australia in 1979.

He said his connection to the landscape has evolved over time.

“I realised that the history in Australia is in the land, so I fell in love with the land,” he said.

That connection underpins his abstract style, which aims to evoke emotion rather than replicate a scene.

“I’m more interested in feeling the painting,” he said.

 

“You can’t photograph [the feeling], so painting is something that really helps you do that.”

Working primarily with acrylics, and more recently oils and cold wax, Lingard paints in his Ocean Grove studio, often accompanied by music.

“I prefer taking it in and then painting when I get back from memory,” he said.

Visitors to the exhibition can expect impressions of headlands, waterways and shifting terrains, with works that encourage a second look.

“I’d like them to feel impacted by the landscape and to feel an emotional connection,” Lingard said.

“I’d love for people to not just look at it once, but have to go back and look a second time.”

Face of the Waters is on display at The Hive Gallery in Ocean Grove until 31 May.