Layers of Life with Andrew Hillhouse Art
Jodie Cameron meets a local artist who uses memory to capture and represent the intricate layers of life.
Art connects people, binds culture, generates intrigue and can strengthen a community’s character – art physically brings people together in its capacity to share a story, inspire reflection or form connections that can transcend differences. It’s not often you come across two kindred spirits who instantly warm your heart, but Andrew and Sarah Hillhouse did just that when I visited their property to admire Andrew’s latest collection On the Nature of Daylight – ahead of his exhibition at the Cooroy Butter Factory Arts Centre from 26 June to 27 July.
Sunshine Coast dwellers for 30 years, Andrew, Sarah, their son George and beloved pups Dolce and Spike live and breathe their vibrant Noosa Hinterland artistic community – and that connection to people, place and land is the very essence of Andrew’s work that is deeply influenced by the natural environment surrounding his studio.
Growing up in Brisbane, Andrew has always had a deep connection to the region, holidaying in Cotton Tree as a youngster, and helping his Dad with his work as a surveyor took him all over the Coast. With a lifelong passion for painting and drawing, Andrew’s artistic journey is enriched by his formal training as an architect, and with that structured perspective on design and art, Andrew expanded his artistic repertoire with a Diploma in Visual Art to hone his skills in both, two-dimensional and three-dimensional mediums.
“Painting and drawing have always been of interest and my architectural studies had a heavy art component with lots of drawing and room for creativity,” Andrew says. “I also had a great art teacher at school who inspired me.
“While I still love architecture, it’s a completely different type of artform because people live in the space, so the creative cannot dominate; the art is more about functionality.”
Through his love of architecture, Andrew built solid relationships with gallery owners and has been involved in the contemporary arts scene for a long time, including his first exhibition at the Noosa Regional Gallery in 2004.
“When I first met Sarah, I was doing a lot of watercolour work with woven pictures, so I gave Sarah a painting for her birthday, she was pretty awe-struck and asked me how many I had,” Andrew chuckled.
“Once Sarah got wind of my work, she used her connections in the local art community and in a few week’s I had my first exhibition at Noosa Regional Gallery.
“More than 250 people turned up, in a thunderstorm and I sold 26 paintings on the opening night.”
So this isn’t Andrew’s first rodeo, and as he prepares for his June exhibition, Andrew explains how he paints from the memories he collects, seeking daily inspiration from his early morning adventures with Dolce and Spike. His work is based on intuitive responses that come from being amongst nature – namely, painting in the forest, or headlands around the rockpools, whenever possible.
“The character of the hinterland’s valleys are incredible at first light, you have mist and light coming through and these captivating speckles of orange, peach and rose, but it changes every day, it’s always a little different,” Andrew smiled. “My paintings are like layers of memory from different places – either my memory, or someone else’s, or it could be a mixture of everyone’s memories in one painting.”
Using largely acrylics and a palette knife, Andrew combines traditional and non-traditional methods to create abstract ideas without using conventional illustrations, and said he doesn’t necessarily plan his paintings, they are an impression of spontaneity that flows from his consciousness.
“I am not scientific in my approach, I tend to relate to abstract landscapes rather than a perfectly painted scene because when we remember something, a memory is never perfect – as soon as you see it, it’s fresh, but the moment you open it, it starts to decay or fade; so your recollection becomes less and less accurate, your memory is always an impression,” he says.
On the Nature of Daylight will feature acrylic paint on canvas and polycotton, with each painting an abstract colour field that is suggestive of a scene, landscape or fragment of a story recalled from memory, and imagined, partially remembered, and sometimes forgotten. Each painting is illuminated by light captured at various times of the day.
“My process is very meditative, it cannot be rushed and I don’t necessarily have a great deal of control over it – it’s going to be what it’s going to be,” Andrew said.
“There’s a process with every painting in letting go of perceptions about what it’s going to be, and wondering, observing and noticing what it actually becomes after you put it away, and come back to it.
“It always blows me away how much an artwork changes after it dries and is hung on the wall.”
Andrew was chosen as one of the exhibiting artists for Noosa Art Gallery’s recent Noosa Nouveau group exhibition and currently has works on display at Stevens Street Gallery in Yandina. You can also discover his work at the Affordable Arts Fair in Brisbane, and later this year at Noosa Open Studios – where he will open his stunning hinterland studio to the public.
“I love the way art connects you with people on that level, and when I had my studio set up for Noosa Open Studios last year, it was really neat to see my work side-by-side because there is always some pattern that emerges – like the light and shade are travelling through to the next painting,” Andrew says. “Art can be transformative, and that’s kind of its job in a way and why I think it still exists – it’s really important artists keep creating, because humans are not one-dimensional, they are multidimensional so art has a capacity to inspire and delight, while evoking wonder, joy, laughter and connection with your surroundings.”
DISCOVER ANDREW’S ART
See Andrew’s art up close at these exhibitions and events:
Affordable Art Fair, 8-11 May. Brisbane Showgrounds.
On the Nature of Daylight, solo exhibition, 19 June-20 July.
Cooroy Butter Factory Arts Centre.
Noosa Open Studios, 10 to 19 October
Follow Andrew’s art on instagram @andrewhillhouseart
