En plein air drawing and painting form the genesis of Joanna Cole’s practice. Her brushstrokes evocative of the Fauvist’s expressive use of colour and marks from the early 20th Century in France.

Working primarily in oil on board and linen Cole continues to approach the development of composition through an attitude of curiosity about technique, technology, history and materials.

Travel has been a fundamental recurrence throughout Cole’s history; the road trip, the residency, family visits and ancestor tracking, bush walks and field trips. All have contributed to an increasing interest in the Eucalypt and its totemic symbolism as a resilient beacon of familiarity across the globe, but also as a catalyst for perception shifts.

For the artist, the purpose of creating images is to reach the soul of another in celebration of the elemental aspects of the human condition and nature.