Revisiting the natural beauty of Tasmania was the inspiration behind Richard Klekociuk's new exhibit entitled Integration set to be held at the Scottsdale Art Gallery Cafe.
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Following his move back to Tasmania last year after living in Cairns and Port Macquarie, Mr Klekociuk said he began to see the nature and landscapes of the state differently.
Mr Klekociuk has been practising and teaching art as well as being an art judge for more than 40 years and coloured pencil has been his preferred medium since 1986. His artistic interests include patterns, decay, colour and shape.
Mr Klekociuk was a Glover Prize finalist in both 2009 and 2014, and was also a finalist in the Bay of Fires Art Prize in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
There are 24 works in the collection that depict stills of Tasmania's rugged nature with images such as stones, waterfalls and forest floors.
"The collection of work is from the last 12 months. I've been living on the mainland and we came back at the beginning of last year before COVID hit," said Mr Klekociuk.
"I decided to concentrate more on the places and the ideas that were associated with my previous time in Tasmania, so I went out and visited the places that are special to me and lots of these places are in the exhibition.
"I look at both the obvious and the lesser known parts of the landscape. For example, the places you tread on rather than looking at. I look down and I see little still life collections, such as stone and sticks leaves which as part of the whole landscape are so minuscule and tiny that they can be overlooked."
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Mr Klekociuk said that embracing the quiet and lonely places of Tasmania was a large part of the overall idea.
"If you think of it as a jigsaw, if you put a jigsaw together and one piece is missing the picture is incomplete. That piece could be a leaf or a stone or a stick of some sort.
"It may seems like only a small piece of the puzzle, but it needs to be a part of what you are looking at."
The paintings are based on photos that Mr Klekociuk has captured over time and show also the change in scenery over time.
"It's about places where I've been 10, 15, 20 years ago and going back and seeing the changes over time such as the physical change and my own emotional response to the areas I'm revisiting," he said.
"Its noisier or quieter or its grown or been cut down and burnt. I was up at St Patrick's River the other month and I couldn't see the Mt Barrow where I used to stand and draw because there were trees in the way.
"I decided to put a collection together of things which are obvious and things which are often ignored or neglected."
The exhibition entitled Integration will run from October 24- November 28, with the official opening on the October 24 at 2:30pm at the Scottsdale Art Gallery Cafe.
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