1 – 17 September 2022
about the exhibition
Julian Laffan’s exhibition captures moments in time on road journeys between Canberra, Braidwood and Narooma – a stretch of highway that has been imprinted on his memory. As Julian says, “…this exhibition acknowledges the familiar sites and changing light of the traveller heading home. Focusing on mountains, rivers and the highway itself I am connecting the personal experience with that of the formation of rituals and the recognisable places along the way.” Julian hand carves his woodcuts and chooses not to print his blocks, instead creating unique works by directly colouring the woodblock with gouache, oil and pencil. This is a conscious decision to reference the historical use of the woodcut for the dissemination of information and images. In his hand carved and painted timber panels, Julian also makes reference to the series of woodcuts depicting stations along the historic Tōkaidō Road in Japan by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). His pieces are a “reflection of place and time in a single captured moment carved and suspended as an image in timber”. Julian seeks to replace the instantaneous circulation of information and imagery, so common today, with prolonged meditation; a single tableau documented through deliberate labour.
Julian Laffan graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Arts (Visual) in 2004. He held his first solo exhibition the following year in 2005 and since then has exhibited frequently, particularly within the Canberra region. Julian has worked on cross-cultural print based projects in East Timor, Indonesia and the Thai-Burma border and travels regularly. His work is held in the collections of the Canberra Museum and Gallery as well as the Print Council of Australia.
