Mildura artist Robert Watson has work displayed in homes in Norway, Mulan, Italy, New York, Canada, Dubai and every state of Australia apart from Northern Territory. Caitlyn Morgan sat down with the experienced artist to chat about his new exhibition, Lock Surfaces, currently on display at The Art Vault. Picture: Louise Barker
What inspired your most recent exhibition, Lock Surfaces?
The lock and the river. The river is just a short walk away. It’s just so accessible, for many it’s just down the road for them.
It’s what makes our community so livable, it has always been the life of our town. Without the river we could not have the fertile land and it’s livable space that is Mildura. The river is what visitors come here to see.
I still look at textures and surfaces – the light and movement which the water creates and the erosion caused by the flow of the river and our interaction with the river.
When you walk around everything may look the same but if you take a closer look it’s all different, our climate changes every aspect of the landscape and without the river all of that would be lost.
My paintings are a response to those constant changes.
What was it like for you to see all of the work come together and be on display after having worked on it for so many months?
It is a bit overwhelming when you do put it all together, it’s a lot of work and time that has been put into it.
The exhibition officially opened on March 13, how was the response from people at the opening?
We had a big crowd and it was really positive, which was great.
There was a few discussing how similar pieces were to what they already had at home.
It’s a real joy and pleasure that people want to live with them.
What materials do you prefer to use and what did you use for this exhibition?
They all use oil paint and enamel. I prefer not to use acrylic paint, instead using the traditional oil paint.
While they are harder to use and you do need more patience as it can take days to dry, I like that they are longer lasting and more permanent.
Why do you like to focus on creating art that responds to the landscape?
People don’t often take the time to really have a look at our landscape.
Artists, whether they are a photographer or painter, take a closer look at what we are living on. Many people mentioned that some of the images are quite colourful, what they don’t realise it they are colourful because they are representing the amount of rubbish on the lock. For example, one was inspired by a hi-vis top I discovered.
