Growing up in Bayside Victoria, the cold southern beaches have had a profound impact on forming Liz Sullivan as an artist. Having had a rather sheltered childhood – Liz’s home and school located in the same street, and with little access to contemporary art – the beach provided both solice and inspiration.

 

In her formative years Liz’s desire to paint emerged when she discovered the impactful work of Joseph William Mallord Turner. Turner’s moods, power and abstraction informed her artistic response to nature and sparked a lifelong love of painting.

Liz’s practice sees her continually leaving her comfort zone to challenge not only her own perspective but also the perspective and conventions of the
traditional principles of painting. Liz has no reverence to rules or hiding of techniques, learning them and discarding them, over and over again. Finding pure excitement in the transparency of how the image has been made. This ethos informs Liz’s practical application of “always using whatever works to make my marks”, building layers with paint, wax, graphite, pencil and resin.
 

The influence of the naturalistic style developed by The Heidelberg School can be seen in Liz’s work, whereby a close inspection of a painting reveals the
technical use of brush and paint, and stepping back to observe the complete piece reveals the narrative.
 

Liz is also deeply inspired by the rhythmic and meditative landscapes of one of Australia’s most significant twentieth century contemporary artists, Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
 

Liz’s move to Central Victoria in recent years has seen her art evolve. Gradually swapping the brooding seascapes of the Bayside, replaced by the intricate symbols, colours and rhythms of the central highlands. And the rest is emerging.