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In this episode of Art Wank, we delve into the world of Australian landscape painter David Collins, whose latest solo exhibition, Brevity, is currently on view at Defiance Gallery in Sydney from May 3 to 24, 2025 .

Collins has been a significant figure in the Australian art scene since the early 1990s . Residing on Dangar Island in the Hawkesbury River since 1987, his daily interactions with the river—often by rowboat—deeply inform his artistic practice . His works are known for their meditative quality, blending abstraction with a profound sense of place.

Brevity continues this exploration, offering a series of paintings that reflect Collins' intimate connection with the Australian landscape. The exhibition showcases his ability to distill vast natural scenes into compositions that are both evocative and restrained.

Throughout his career, Collins has participated in numerous residencies, including the Australian Wildlife Conservancy Residency in Queensland and the Nock Art Foundation Residency in New Zealand . His work has been recognised in prestigious awards such as the Wynne Prize and the Salon des Refusés.

In our conversation, Collins discusses his artistic journey, the influence of his surroundings, and the themes present in Brevity. He shares insights into his process and the philosophies that underpin his work.

Join us as we explore the nuanced landscapes of David Collins and gain a deeper understanding of his contribution to contemporary Australian art.

Brevity is on display at Defiance Gallery, 12 Mary Place, Paddington, NSW, until May 24, 2025. For more information, visit defiancegallery.com.

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In this episode of Art Wank, we chat with Sydney-based artist Matt Bromhead about his multidisciplinary practice, which blends drawing, sculpture, and painting. Matt’s drawings take shape through layered mulberry paper, homemade rice glue, and marks influenced by Chinese calligraphy. Known for his delicate use of materials and intuitive approach to mark-making, he shares insights into his process, inspirations, and the ways his work explores form, space, and texture.

We chat about:
 🎨 His journey as an artist and how he developed his distinctive aesthetic 
 ✍️ How drawing remains a fundamental part of his practice.
 🔨 His approach to materials—why he chooses certain textures, forms, and processes.
 🏡 The role of environment and studio space in shaping his work.

📸 Instagram: @mattbromhead
🌐 Website: www.mattbromhead.com

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Art Wank Podcast – Oliver Abbott

Welcome back to Art Wank! In this episode, we chat with Sydney-based artist Oliver Abbott, whose latest exhibition, Mine, is currently showing at Dominik Mersch Gallery.

Oliver’s practice explores memory and its distortions, using digital world-building tools to reconstruct remembered spaces. His background in filmmaking, animation, and architecture feeds into his work, blending virtual environments with painting to create speculative spaces that sit between reality and imagination.

We discuss:
 🎨 How Oliver’s memories of lived spaces inform his work
 🖥️ The role of digital tools in his creative process
 🏛️ His transition from filmmaking to painting
 🖼️ The themes behind his Mine exhibition
👀 What’s next for his practice

Oliver’s work is a fascinating exploration of how we remember and reimagine spaces, and we loved hearing about his unique process.

Where to find Oliver’s work:
👉 Dominik Mersch Gallery
👉 Oliver’s website

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Janis Clarke's exhibition at Olsen Gallery, The Other Sun, opens March 5th - 29th March 2025. 

Janis Clarke, born in 1983 in Sydney, Australia, is a distinguished contemporary artist renowned for his evocative oil paintings that delve into the nuances of perception and memory. His academic journey in the arts commenced with an Advanced Diploma of Performance Art from JMC Academy in 2003. He further honed his craft at the National Art School in Darlinghurst, NSW, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts between 2013 and 2015, followed by a Master of Fine Arts from 2016 to 2017 under the mentorship of Dr. Andrew Donaldson.

Clarke's work is characterised by tightly composed scenes that capture fleeting moments and introspective reflections. His paintings often present minimalist landscapes and interiors, prompting viewers to engage deeply with the act of observation. Working predominantly at night, Clarke translates his personal experiences and memories into visual narratives, emphasising the stillness and introspection inherent in nocturnal settings.

His solo exhibitions have been met with critical acclaim. Notably, in 2023, he presented Living a Life That's Perfectly Still at the Olsen Annexe in Sydney. This exhibition featured works like Full Moon and House, Blue House, and Window and Pink Lampshade, which encapsulate his exploration of light, shadow, and the subtleties of everyday scenes. The exhibition invited viewers to contemplate the act of seeing, not through detailed realism but through the lived experience of looking.

Clarke's artistic excellence has been recogniSed through his participation in numerous group exhibitions and art prizes. He was a finalist in the prestigious Archibald Prize in 2024, showcasing his portrait Beckah in the Studio, which depicted musician Beckah Amani. The portrait captured Amani's strength and resilience, reflecting Clarke's ability to convey complex emotions through minimalist compositions. Additionally, Clarke has been a finalist in other esteemed competitions, including the Mosman Art Prize and the Paddington Art Prize, underscoring his significant presence in the Australian art scene.

His works are part of notable collections, such as the Zimmermann Permanent Collection, the Macquarie Group Permanent Collection, and the National Art School Permanent Collection in Sydney. 

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In this episode of Art Wank, we chat with George Hartley, co-founder of Bluethumb, Australia's largest online art marketplace. George shares insights into the business side of art, the evolution of Bluethumb, and how artists can leverage online platforms to build their careers. From navigating the digital art world to understanding collector trends, this episode is packed with valuable advice for artists at all stages of their careers.

'We represent over 30,000 emerging and established artists from Australia and work with 20 of Australia's most remote Aboriginal Art Centres to give you access to more Australian artists and their art than anywhere else in the world.

We have sold over 110,000 original Australian artworks to everyone; from first time art buyers to established collectors and Australia's finest architecture firms.

But this is just the first chapter in our story.'

Thanks George!

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Steve Lopes 

“I try to deal with the figure and the landscape together. For me, it’s about the relationship we have with our surrounds. The tension
between the two both visually and metaphorically is what makes it
interesting to tackle as a subject.”   Steve Lopes 

Born in Sydney, Lopes trained in both Australia and the UK, refining a unique visual language that blends elements of traditional landscape painting with an expressive, contemporary edge. His work is often informed by extensive field studies and travel, particularly to remote locations. He sketches and paints en plein air, later developing large-scale studio works that evoke memory, movement, and human connection to the land.

Lopes’ compositions have a cinematic quality—his figures, often rendered in thick, impasto brushstrokes, appear caught in fleeting, introspective moments. His work is deeply influenced by history, migration, and the changing nature of identity, making his paintings both personal and universally resonant.

A highly regarded artist, Lopes has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally. His work is held in major public and private collections, and he has been a finalist in prestigious art prizes, including the Archibald and Wynne Prizes.

Join us as we discuss Lopes’ artistic journey, his approach to storytelling through paint, and the influences that have shaped his dynamic practice.

Thanks for talking to us, Steve. 

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We interviewed artist Justin Williams at COMA Gallery in Marrickville, Sydney, during his solo show, Waiting for Lavender, on until 22nd February 2025.

Justin lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico, splitting his time between there and a studio in Paris. We had a great conversation about his journey as an artist, including his early years working in New York. His work is narrative-driven, deeply personal, and rooted in family histories, with multiple stories overlapping within a single painting. He employs a belt sander to disrupt the surface after painting, allowing him to push and pull layers, creating unexpected textures and depth.

Thanks for talking to us, Justin, we look forward to watching your career flourish. 

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Myfanwy Gullifer is represented by King Street Gallery in Sydney. 

We had a great time chatting with Myf over Zoom before Christmas while she was at her farm in Walcha, NSW. We discussed her ceramic art practice, the challenges of being an artist, balancing life between the farm and the city, and much more.

Thanks Myf. Her show will be later in 2025 at King St. Gallery. 

'Myfanwy Gullifer graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne.

Myfanwy’s upcoming 2025 solo exhibition at King Street Gallery on William will showcase a new series of porcelain works. 
Please register your interest at [email protected] for a preview.

Her work has been exhibited at the Melbourne Art Fair, the Korean International Art Fair and various regional gallery shows such as Interconnected at New England Regional Art Museum, 2022; Paint my place at Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, 2016; and In [two] Art at Maitland Regional Gallery, 2012, which toured across New South Wales.

In 2019, Myfanwy was a finalist in Still: National Still Life Award at Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, and in 2016, the same gallery awarded her the Artist in Residence at Moonee Beach.

Her work can be found in various public and private collections from across Australia, such as the New England Regional Art Gallery, Tamworth Regional Gallery, the Laverty Collection and the Open-Air Gallery, Walcha, where she lives and works. Notably, in 2010, Newcastle Art Gallery acquired two of her sculptures on behalf of the Les Renfrew Bequest, which were subsequently exhibited in Clash: Contemporary Sculptural Ceramics at Newcastle Art Gallery.

King Street Gallery has represented Myfanwy since 2012.' King Street Gallery

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Before Christmas 2024, we had the pleasure of speaking with Nick Smith at his N.Smith Gallery, located at 15 Foster St, Surry Hills, Sydney. Nick is an engaging conversationalist and clearly passionate about his work. He established the gallery in 2021, and it has since grown into one of Sydney's most respected and celebrated art spaces. During our chat, Nick shared his journey in the art world, which began with a role at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., followed by experience working in contemporary galleries before finally opening his own. It's been an incredible and ongoing adventure! 

'N.Smith Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Sydney, Australia, that currently represents more than 20 artists and collectives, offering curatorial, collection, and management service advice to museums, corporate, foundations and private clients.

The gallery has been home to culturally-significant exhibitions across a variety of media and genres, and has facilitated and participated in projects across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, India, Germany, France, UK, and the USA.

In 2021, N.Smith opened the eponymous gallery on Napier Street, Paddington in a former church community hall. In 2024, during the opening week of the Biennale of Sydney, Smith relocated the gallery from Paddington to the vibrant Surry Hills, expanding the gallery’s footprint and ambition.

Dedicated to living artists, the gallery has and is fostering the careers of some of the most influential artists working today, and plans to maintain long-term representation of the artists we work with.

Supporting culture is at the heart of what we do. Beyond the walls of the gallery we support various arts organisations to achieve their mission, including visual arts, music, theatre,  film, and publishing. 

N.Smith Gallery is a proud member of the Indigenous Art Code of Conduct.'

N.Smith Gallery 

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Gary discovered the Alveston Gallery in Notting Hill, London, during his travels and was drawn to the work of Teddy Hansen, who was exhibiting at the time. After a conversation with Fergus Downey, the gallery owner, Gary arranged a Zoom meeting with Teddy to learn more about his practice.

We’re releasing this podcast just ahead of the London Art Fair, where the Alveston Gallery will be showcasing Teddy’s work.

In our conversation, Teddy shared insights into the influence of Danish culture on his art, his experiences as a young artist in London, and his exciting plans for the future.

'Teddy Hansen’s comically surreal wall-hangings celebrate the power of escapist art. Inspiring laughter and perplexity, he infuses natural imagery with absurd narrative to convey a wild sense of humour and a rampant obsession with frogs.

Having studied at Falmouth and Leeds University, Hansen began his artistic journey with painting and embroidery before developing into the realm of rug-tufting. During the creation process, each piece follows a dream-like narrative which becomes increasingly complex as the work unfolds. Ultimately, it is this sense of unpredictability that fuels Hansen’s vision, culminating in an immersive and arresting aesthetic.

Above all, Hansen strives to emphasise the importance of humour and experimentation by encouraging audiences to take his rugs at face value. Instead of inspiring any kind of hidden notions, they are designed with the sole purpose of evoking joyful escapism.' - Alveston Gallery

Thanks for the chat, Teddy! We wish you all the best in your future.