oil on linen, 39 x 34 cm
Artist represented by Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, Australia
“I guess my mind gets occupied with what’s going on beneath the surface of simple gestures and chance encounters”.
Melbourne-based Australian artist Rob McHaffie paints vibrant and quirky narratives about the splendour in the everyday. His recent work ‘You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one ’ (2020) oil on linen, reflects upon how quickly our routines of going out into the world to live and make a living have disappeared.
“The train for me was a place to absorb the world. I never read or listen to music on the train preferring to sit and watch my fellow passengers and making small drawings. Trains that were once full of people staring at their phones now travel empty. This work gives a little suggestion that perhaps there’s another type of world we can create after this period indoors, one where we can truly appreciate being with others.”
McHaffie navigates the mediums of painting, watercolour and ceramics, contriving collaged subjects from porcelain models and magazine cut-outs into the confessions and social observations which have come to characterise his practice. Humour and pathos intertwine, offering the viewer sharp and oftentimes witty observations of humanity. His paintings offer up images of everyday life with a folk sensibility.
Rob is represented by Darren Knight Gallery (Sydney, Australia) and Brett McDowell Gallery (Dunedin, New Zealand).