The work:Liselle Powell, Still Life in Mustard, 2022. Acrylic on canvas,
91 x 121cm. $2,800.Courtesy: the artist
Having lived in many places across Australia, the now Perth-based artist Liselle Powell understands the importance of appreciating each moment as it comes amongst life’s changes. “Now when I paint,” she says, “I paint to remember a place and hold on to that memory.” In her work Still Life in Mustard, a quiet indoor scene becomes monumental, writ large across a canvas much larger than usually employed. Densely coloured blossoms are contrasted against wide expanses of purple and mustard, each petal rendered in an expressive style that becomes almost abstract in places, reduced to planes of pink, yellow and white. Brown shadows fall in all directions, with quickly executed slashes of dark, black oils curling out from the base of the vase, confusing any conventional sense of perspective. Colour in particular is key to this piece and is a particularly important element to the artist: “colour, like smell, can transport you to a place and time”. With its grand scale and emotive mark-making, Powell’s piece is a testament to her ability to convey the importance of the ordinary, turning everyday life into something extraordinary.