Congratulations to Simon Brown who placed as a finalist in the 5th Edition!

Who are you?

Hi, my name is Simon and I am an artist based in Sydney, Australia. I hold a Diploma of Fine Art, gained with distinction, and paint primarily in the form of realism/photorealism. Despite having relished art from an early age and throughout the subject at school, a career and life as an artist had never crossed my mind. Rather than study Fine Art straight out of High School, I started a degree course in Graphic Design but soon realized that this did not permit me to express my ideas and deliver a message in the way I wanted to. I initially worked primarily with acrylics and graphite and then explored oils, currently my dominant medium.

Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind your winning work “What Always Was”?

I wanted to create a work that engages with the audience on multiple levels, as well as having a meaningful impact via the expression of nature’s beauty being taken for granted, treated as disposable and potentially discarded and lost.

What drew you to portraying crumpled paper as the base of a composed piece?

The portrayal of the crumpled paper stems from the conceptual struggle of a previous artwork I wanted to paint. The crumpled subject of the composition reflects on the decision to discard an image or object being reconsidered, earning a new lease of life but bearing the scars of the path taken beforehand.

What do you hope to communicate with your work?

I think one of the main things I have learnt so far as an artist is to ultimately create dialogue, not only between the audience and myself, but also between the audience themselves. For example, the crumpled landscape composition invites interpretation and aims to create discomfort and hopefully, insight. This insight could lead to a shift in perspective and then, behaviour.

Do you have a particular piece that you view as your most accomplished? Why?

If I had to choose a single piece as my most accomplished, it would be my portrait of Abdul Abdullah, a fellow artist in Sydney whom I painted for a portrait prize. This work became the first piece of mine to make it as a finalist into the Shirley Hannan Portrait Prize, and later also being a finalist in the Kilgour Portrait Prize.

More importantly, aside from the recognition, the painting’s subject holds significant importance to me and relevance to the world we live in today.

Can you discuss why you chose painting as a medium for your work and voice as opposed to others?

I am concerned with the breakdown of luminous layers that photography often fails to reveal and capture, to challenge the notion that depth is lost in the transferral of photographic forms into a painted piece. I find that painting can be more nuanced - multi-layered in concept, vision and meaning. The creation flows from the mind, heart and soul through the fingers onto the canvas. The idea evolves throughout the creative process, it is dynamic and can shift continuously.

Have you experimented with other mediums? If so, which ones and how?

I have previously worked with acrylics before, but since being introduced to oils, I have never looked back. I find I have the ability to move the colour around much more easily with oils, getting much richer colour and tones, as well as more depth. However, I am sure there would be a number of artists out who would challenge this.

I also really enjoy working with charcoal and graphite; these have been with me since the very beginning and some of my earliest memories of creativity were with these mediums. I spent countless hours as a child drawing anything that piqued my interest at the time.

Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your works?

I think my biggest learning experience so far has come from peer insight, work that aesthetically looked pleasing but lacked strong substance. Advice was given to me about how important it is to create works not just based on aesthetics, but strive to create work that stops the audience, to slow their movement to the next piece on the wall. Engage with them, demand and hold their attention.

I have since felt that, despite a large amount of time and effort, assistance with the creative process from peers to start a particular body of work, I realized it lacked substance and I would struggle to express my thoughts and message effectively through this work.

Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?

I don’t think I can pinpoint a single greatest success since starting out on this path to be an artist, but more so a number of smaller moments of success or milestones. One significant achievement was holding my first exhibition in 2019. Another is that a portrait I painted received recognition in a number of art competitions in Australia. This means a huge amount to me, being the first-ever work of mine to make it into a competition as a finalist. Also, the sitter and subject matter of this work is someone whose work and perspective on life I admire immensely.

What projects are you working on currently? Can you discuss them?

I am currently about to undertake a body of work related to the crumpled paper concept, using the expression as a way of externalizing my internal thoughts and processes as an artist and my individual artistic practice. Recognizing past conceptual failures, successes and touching on those I would still like to explore as if it was ‘all laid out to bare’.

Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists/photographers, what is your advice?

I’ve always believed that when you are creating something with a subject or subject matter that resonates closely with a message you want to convey, that is when you produce your best work. There have been times that I have felt like my work has had no substance; therefore, I struggle to communicate artistically with the audience.

I also strongly believe in the phrase ‘trust the process’; this holds great significance with me. There will be points during the creation of your work where you believe you aren’t on the right path to achieve your vision of the final product; you can even hate the work at times! But perseverance and ‘trusting the process’, working through this block, you will get there. Continued exploration, discovery and learning will drive you towards a future rich with artistic possibilities.

To view more of Simon Brown’s work

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