Artist statement
I am a contemporary landscape painter, committed traveller and observer of interior, rugged Australian landscapes. My works are primarily presented as a collection, which explore the intricacies of a specific place, evoking a multi-sensory response in the viewer and stimulating considered thoughts on connection to the Australian Landscape and identity of a terrain. Encaustic wax and oils are my dominant mediums, enabling me to build up texture and create effects which replicate the landscapes I visit. The organic nature of the molten wax features its unpredictability, bringing forth unmapped possibilities. The work is the process - carving and incising, layering and melting, deconstructing trees, landforms and sky into colour, lines, form and space. I strive to depict the vastness, deep time and geology of interior Australia, expressing its sublime beauty in marks, simultaneously figurative and emotive.
Artist bio
Carly Le Cerf is a contemporary West Australian artist who works with encaustic wax and oil painting techniques to produce sublime portrayals of the Australian landscape. Her processes are highly attuned and are informed by regular excursions to regional and remote regions of Australia. Carly completed her Degree in Visual Arts, Painting and Printmaking, at Edith Cowan University, WA in 2000. Since 2008, Carly’s work has been widely exhibited in significant exhibitions in WA, NSW, Victoria and also Berlin (2020). In 2022 her work was presented in the Sydney Contemporary, South West Art Now at Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, and she held highly successful solo exhibitions at both Michael Reid Gallery (NSW) and Gallows Gallery (WA). Carly Le Cerf exhibited Paintings of The Pilbara at New England Regional Museum (NERAM) in 2021 in what was her first major museum exhibition. Represented by Michael Reid Sydney, Carly Le Cerf is a rising artistic voice who has attracted significant collectors’ attention for her subliminal portrayal of Australia’s diverse topography. Carly has been a finalist in numerous art prizes including, Melville Art Awards- Second Prize (2022), Cossack Art Awards (2020, 2022), Ravenswood Women’s Art (2019), Minnawarra Art Prize- Acquisitive Prize Winner (2017) and the Great Southern Art Award- Overall Winner (2015). Her work is represented in public, and private collections in Australia and internationally.