"Empire of the Coals" (Chinese Elements)
Oil on Canvas
76x153cm
Signed Verso
Prov: Private Collection WA
Private Collection Adelaide
$60,000-80,000
Developed within the artist’s long-standing engagement with fire as both subject and idea, this work represents a quieter and more reflective extension of a theme that has been central to his practice since the early 1980s. Trained at the National Art School in Sydney, and a recipient of the Archibald Prize, he has built a career defined by a commitment to highly resolved, illusionistic painting, often using the Australian landscape as a setting for more conceptual concerns.
Rather than working directly from observation, his paintings are carefully constructed images, where simple motifs such as fire, rope, or horizon, are used to explore broader ideas around time, presence and transformation. This approach has positioned him as a distinctive figure within contemporary Australian painting, balancing technical discipline with a more philosophical intent.
Here, the focus shifts away from the immediacy of flame to the slower, more considered state of glowing embers. The subject is no longer the event itself, but what remains after it, heat, light and residue. This subtle change in emphasis introduces a more contemplative tone, where the work reflects on duration and gradual change rather than a single moment of action.
The title’s reference to “Chinese Elements” suggests an awareness of philosophical traditions in which fire is understood as part of a wider system of natural forces, associated with energy, change and renewal. Within this context, the embers can be seen as a point within an ongoing cycle, rather than an end in themselves.
Handled with the technical control that defines the artist’s work, the painting maintains a careful balance between realism and restraint. It stands as a measured and thoughtful example of his continued exploration of fire, offering a more subdued but equally resolved counterpart to the better-known fire-line paintings.
