Mark Merrikin’s depiction of his subjects has an innocent quality. But the deliberately skewed proportions and perspectives, the garish clashes of colour, and the simple shapes that make up faces are at odds with his haunting, melancholic representation of suburban life.
“I’m trying to capture the human experience; taking inspiration from friends, emotions, connections and failures. I want to fold the viewer in on moments of personal exchange,” the Port Kembla-based artist says.
Merrikin paints for the voyeur, revealing his subjects’ everyday interactions and private emotions. His methods are subtle: the angle of a character’s eye, the placement of their pupils, the sense of movement or tension in their bodies. One subject is distressed, another seems paranoid. One stands over a breakfast scene, dull with ennui. Their expressions reflect the titles of the works such as Hard to have a bad day when you can’t feel a thing; Horrific brain fog contemplation; and Dwarfed by couch and feeling.
Although he’s an emerging artist, Merrikin has been prolific and has nabbed gallery representation at The Egg & Dart, Thirroul. “I’ve been painting obsessively for five years, and I make the odd sculpture,” he says. “I was first attracted to art seeing Ozzie Wright’s work occasionally in surf mags and films growing up. But my interest really developed when I started studying. I was blown away by the honesty that painting can express. It’s got so much power as a visual language.”
A preferred medium of paint on canvas is supplemented with occasional sculptural pieces that he calls “cement things”, as well as works that are a marriage of the two.
The process begins with sketches from photographs and remembered conversations. An overhead projector is used to transfer the sketches and overlay compositions using acrylic paint, pencil, spray paint, air brush and cement.
Creating art often consumes Merrikin, and he pursues it with an obsessiveness that he says can overshadow the requirement for self-care. “There’s not much routine or structure to my practice. I do a lot of painting at night after work, and on the weekends. Coffee and music are integral, and recently I have been trying to eat more and nap if I’m tired. It’s a bore, but it makes me feel better.”
Merrikin’s work is rapidly evolving, and lately subject matter has been shifting in focus from the internal to the external. “There’s this gentle push outside,” he says. “I’m still painting figurative interiors, but there are recent works which are almost landscape paintings, informed by the architecture and landscape of Port Kembla. The same themes have been making their way into my interiors work, with glimpses through windows.” As his focus shifts, his chosen medium remains the same. “I want to create my own visual documentations of life, and the earnest way painting transcends verbal articulation fascinates.”
Featured Image: Artist Mark Merrikin.Photo: Jessica Maurer.Courtesy: the artist and the egg & dart, Thirroul.