Kevin Chin, Away House, 2021. Oil on Italian linen, 138 x 199cm. Courtesy: the artist and Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney.

The paintings are atmospheric in scale, inviting you to journey through homely yet unworldly scenes, and discover tiny treasures of detail. Vast distances meld together seamlessly to create comforting new realms, that feel both like fond memories and dreams. These paintings offer a spaciousness, that respond to this unique moment of meditative solitude, and express a wistful longing for faraway lands.

With borders intensified at international, state, and even local levels, there’s been added attention to who belongs where. These paintings mix up cultural references to question, whether home can be grounded in just a single place – when so many of us connect on all different levels to various parts of the world.

There are clothes drying outside shanties, Zen rock gardens, deserted tropical marketplaces, and iconic suburban houses, set against sweeping landscapes of forests, mountains, and lakes. They are testament to the cultural traces we each inhabit in our bodies, through our memories, our experiences, our ancestry, or even just our interests: both individually and through our collective consciousness.

These paintings carry the warmth of the home, and yet span the distance – to remind us that through our shared imagination, the world is merely a thought away. Near, far, and yet never closer.

Please note: the gallery is currently closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, click here to view the exhibition online.

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