Jun Chen: Fields of Gold

Between the sculptural carving of oil paint and the confident rendering of flora that is synonymous with his work, Jun Chen has a remarkable command of the Australian landscape. While previously he was concerned with the rugged physicality of Australia’s central desert, Fields Of Gold turns towards an environment softened by light.

His new landscapes are filled with Australian subjects we all recognise—sunflower fields, quiet rockpools, vases of natives on a kitchen bench, rolling countryside punctuated by bursts of flowering colour—but they linger somewhere between observation and recollection. It is an experience guided by sensation: the warmth of afternoon sun reflected against the twisted arms of a gum tree, the shimmer of light across a body of water, the fleeting presence of birds and bathers folded softly into the environment.