Erika Cholich: 2022

My journey was not defined by my will, but by my willingness to work within the confines of what I was given.
I am an oil painter working from life, mainly in the still-life genre. This body of work began as an examination of the flow of seasons, specifically in Australia, through nature. I was not born here, and I have pursued this line of inquiry to feel more connected by immersing myself in the language of the land.
The narrative of Australian nature is purposeful and harsh.
This reality is tempered by periods of flowering beauty, much of which appear exotic to my sensibilities. My original concept was strongly shaped and modified over the past year-and-a-half by the extraordinary events that took place.
My mental and/or physical ability to circumvent; acquiesce too; and challenge these events, directly affected my painting. It became impossible not to draw parallels between nature and humanity.
I was compelled to reconsider how I sourced my subject matter to complete this body of work. Constraints also required me to rethink the scope of my subject matter.
One practical solution was the introduction of pods of all shapes and sizes, which I gathered during my allowed hours of outdoor exercise. These provided material for compositional elements with imbued philosophical value. The pods are visceral testaments to mother nature’s practicality in ensuring the cycle of life. The visual contrast between the bright blooms and the more sombre pods makes for interesting reflections. ~ Erika Cholich, 2022