ARTWORK
Acrylic, oil paint and pastels on canvas framed in Tasmanian Oak. The process of my piece ‘Goji' started in 2019, I captured a moment on my 35mm film camera. My friend sun baking topless in Nicé this time last year whilst traveling though Europe. At the time I was exhibiting in Marbella, Spain and whilst there visited Nicé where the photo was taken. The image captured a moment of freedom and whilst in lockdown in Australia due to COVID-19 I’ve been reflecting on my travels overseas and feeling a great appreciation for the freedom we sometimes take for granted. The composition of my piece aims to see the photograph through a window of abstract tones and detail - Like a window into my past memories. I draw my colour palette from nature and love to experiment with my knowledge in Colour Psychology to create a sensory effect through the use of colour. The reason I picked this artwork for the Combat Prize is because I feel it belongs back in Europe where it all started, with a photo.

BIO
Ash Holmes is a Sydney-based artist who draws on colour psychology and her environment on the Northern Beaches of Sydney for an ever-evolving source of inspiration in her abstract paintings. Born in 1994, Holmes is self-taught, but as the fourth generation of female-artists, it runs in her blood. As such, she naturally reflects on her subconscious, inspired by concepts from an impulsive vision or an unexpected muse. Holmes’ paintings speak to whimsical notions of abstraction and the American colour-field artists of 1950-60s. However, the artist employs soft, muted tones and mark making and layers of oil and acrylic that reveal traces of memory that pose sensitive reflections on the world. Texture is built through gestural mark-making to imprint the canvas, indicative of time and place. At the same time, expressive brushstrokes narrate the artist’s experiences, where she draws on simplicity and nature. Often working large-scale canvases with acrylic paint, Holmes utilises her research in colour psychology to give the works a sensory effect — the harmonious tones of the environment connect her audience to the landscape she creates within. Holmes has had sell-out exhibitions across Sydney, Bryon Bay, Marbella, and her work held in private collections in Australia, New Zealand, US, Denmark, Canada, Singapore, London, Berlin, France, South America, Dubai and Spain.