{ Natural States by Alex Zubryn }

I was honored to attend a private exhibition by one of my RMIT lecturers, Alexandar Zubryn. It was held at the Chapman&Bailey (350 Johnson Street Melbourne, Australia).

I was fascinated by the six 2.4metres tall oil painting that he did. As shown, they were close-up visuals of the texture of trees on the same background. On a closer look, they seem to have capture my soul, I could vividly see the chaos within the peace of the environment. Within the realistic texture of the tree trunk, i could see images of humans, old and young. After a short chat with Alex, he explained that he wanted his paintings to create an illusion of chaos and order which provokes the viewer to think about the construction of urban and nature.

Alex Zubryn, Urban Nature, 2004-2005, oil on linen, 240 x 100cm

" The impetus for painting Second Nature arose from driving through newly landscaped city parks. I walked along the median strips analysing my impressions and imagining a previous state of nature. In searching for patterns I see within the natural renderings of the trunk a kind of traffic, a ritualistic process marking out that fine line between order and chaos. Shifts from monolithic to microscopic, from realistic to abstract, prompting the viewer to participate in questioning familiar constructions of both urban and natural elements. "

– Natural States by Alex Zubryn