About me

I have been living and working on Kaurna Country for the best part of my life and painting in oils since I was 19 years old. I am now dedicating more time and focus to my practice now that my children are independent. I work in oils predominantly and experiment with the use of pencil, oil sticks and ink. I love to explore the way colours bounce off each other creating striking images, visually interesting both from a distance as well as close up.

I am fascinated by the way we can see history in the marks and colours left on the Earth's surfaces. I am inspired by the patterns, light and colours in nature- I aim to re-create the warm feeling of being ‘in’ nature. If my work lights your curiosity, I invite the viewer to take a closer look- to ponder on the marks, colours and layers, in the same way you pause to gaze at nature.

My work signifies the fierceness and fragility of nature, each artwork acting as its own palimpsest, revealing layers that change over the time of producing the work. Humanity is fragile. It is the planet we inhabit that sustains our existence. Sooner than we think, humans could become traces in Earth's palimpsest, our footprint eventually grown over, reclaimed by nature , the echoes of our time here remaining only as part of the Earth’s surfaces.

I hope my work reminds viewers to remember the Earth and be conscious of our relationship to it, and to try with each action to cause no harm.

Enjoy my website and please reach out if you have any questions.

- Chris Small 2021