Doug Heslop's work is not for the faint-hearted.
His exhibition, Constant Expansion, which opens on June 3 at the Owens Collective Showroom in Islington, features more than a dozen large scale abstract paintings and sculpture.
"This work stems from a series I did last year, called Deep Space [Onwards Studio], which was really about sort of thinking about cosmology and a place in the universe," Heslop says. "And creating space within the work that allows your senses hopefully to be heightened. This work is a really a follow-on from that.
"I kind of realised there were two bodies within that one show. Some were very zen, and some were completely hectic. So in this show, I've taken those two different directions and sort of amplified them.
"I suppose, the theme is making work that responds to the anxiety of modern life."
While there is lightness to be found within his art, it's still serious.
Heslop was a finalist in the Blake Prize for religious art in 2018 for his work, Heads, a series of portraits of men named as pedophiles in the 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Several works from that series are featured in Out of the Darkness: A Survivor's Journey, a new exhibition that opened at the Art Gallery of Ballarat this month.
While Heslop was born in Wollombi, he and his young family were residing in Melbourne 10 years ago when they decided to move to a place where they could "afford to live" and be near beaches - which wound up being Newcastle.
"It's been great," he says of the move. Heslop, who attended the National Art School, enjoys the camaraderie of other artists, and that's still an important part of his circle in Newcastle.
His day job took him further away from his art practice than he planned, but he's clearly focused these days, spending two days a week in his studio in an industrial shed in Hamilton North, adjacent to the large sheds of The Creator Incubator.
"You're better off sticking with what you love and what you're good at," he says with a laugh.
His constant companion in the studio is Beau, a super-friendly runaway mutt tied to a long rope on a piece of furniture.
His usual routine is a two-hour morning surf before heading to the studio, but he hasn't had time for that as final preparation for the show is underway.
Notably, there are finished works in the studio that will not be in the new show. They don't fit the theme, but will definitely have their day.
Constant Expansion
Most of Heslop's works in this show are on aluminium composite panels, 1.2metres square. There is a distinct colour split: some are light, some are dark.
"I'm trying to create abstract work that somehow, I think, even in these very energetic works, for me - someone who has a high energy level - I find them quite calming," he says. "There are places my eye can go to. They are really creating a quiet space, within the frenetic pace of contemporary life."
Every artwork is an experiment for Heslop. In his studio he explains one piece we are viewing as "trying to find something where the materials work in an uncanny fashion".
Focusing on two particular works we are discussing, Heslop says, "There is a freshness and a freedom to them, and they are completely unplanned other than having a feeling I want to convey, and then you work towards creating that image that matches the feeling."
Dinner event
Heslop's new show at The Owens Collective is also the first of a series "in dinner with the artist" events at the venue. The dinner event, with a menu created by The Wilderness Chef, at $165 per person, from 6pm to 10pm on Friday, June 4, is sold out.
The dinners are designed to connect artists with people who love their work, enabling art lovers to have an encounter with an artist and to have their work hanging in their home. Other dinners in the series will be with artists John Morris and Bridie Watt.
Guests at the June 4 dinner will receive a bottle of wine to take home labelled with their own piece of Doug Heslop artwork as part of an Art Series Collection by Inner City Winemakers.
