Neil Haddon
Migratory Aesthetics:
Waymarking / Painting / Undertow
2 - 24 August 2024
Neil Haddon is a British-Australian artist whose compellingly diverse work explores themes of displacement and identity, influenced by his migratory experiences and lutruwita/Tasmania's colonial history. In this exhibition, the artist delves into his personal biography, exploring the legacy of his migration to lutruwita/Tasmania and encounters with artworks that have marked his journey from the UK, through Spain and New York, to Tasmania.
His visually rich paintings interweave a complex mix of influences, including references to the works of Paul Gauguin and John Glover, engravings by Gustave Doré, and snippets of text by H.G. Wells. He also incorporates references to the early colonial figure John Kelly, as well as anecdotes from his own life in the UK and Tasmania.
Migration is a complex phenomenon involving negotiations of identity, belonging, and spatial dynamics. Haddon's artwork exemplifies migratory experiences, merging past and present temporalities to create a poignant manifestation of displacement and settlement. His technique spans hard-edged abstraction to loose expression, finely rendered figurative detail to bold text, utilizing a variety of painterly applications and materials. Haddon's paintings offer insights into migratory experiences and the histories of lutruwita/Tasmania, depicting a place still in formation, whose geographies and views are yet to be fully discovered.
Video by Richard Harmey