Aurora + Arborealus
A solo exhibition by Esther Schouten consisting of two sets of work: Aurora and Arborealus.
Aurora explores the soft lucent quality of dawn through a series of oil paintings. Mist veiled objects emerge as tentative delicate shapes. As the sky colours: a gentle layering of natural forms occurs with trees taking on zoomorphic shapes, reaching and stretching. The gradual transformation of atmospheric light is tranquil and dreamlike, the bridge from night to day, sleep and consciousness. Aurora’s domain is often grey, tinted with greens, purples and blues. Early morning bird-calls can be heard. Aurora paintings lined the walls of the gallery.
Arborealus is an immersive piece that takes the viewer on a tree-lined walk along the Yarra River in East Kulin Nation. It aims to create an appreciation of our local bushland and the need for environmental conservation. The work was painted on a curved canvas: 1.5 meters high and 9 meters long. Suspended in the gallery, so that visitors could walk into it and be surrounded by the bush.
Arborealus has been donated to the Eastern Health Foundation. It will hang in six adjoining panels in a public corridor of Boxhill Hospital. Bringing the beauty of the bush to visitors and staff.