Est. 1992
Hazel Dooney 
Over the last decades, value shifted from art to artist. We still travel to see singular works of art: da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Caravaggio’s Medusa, Klimt’s The Kiss, Picasso’s Guernica, The Rothko Chapel, The Lightening Field by Walter De Maria. Yet it is no longer enough for an artwork to be authentic. The audience wants to see beyond the art, to know … Read more
For five years I’ve painted private commissions, figured out what I have to say in my art now, kept a low profile and worked on recovering my physical health after adverse reactions to all the psych’ meds during my hospital years. It has felt like a long metamorphosis within the cocoon of the studio. But over … Read more
“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.” – Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey Inevitably, an artist is described in a few words. Male artists who are unconventional or controversial are enfant terribles. They can be handsome, like Marlon Brando. Or conventionally unattractive – think Serge Gainsbourg, Jean Paul … Read more
Blinds were drawn behind the glass door, darkening the background. On the surface, white lettering: Parkers Sydney Fine Art Supplies, Custom Picture Framing Since 1918. Ten feet to the left, a roller door opening to the workshop. Inside, power leads were strung across ceiling beams. To the left, a wall of tools and a long timber workbench. In the centre a large, sturdy worktable … Read more
In between projects I like to deliver completed works, then clean and de-clutter the studio. It’s a good time to re-assess where I’m at and my direction from here. Recently I watched the Andy Warhol Diaries documentary. I’ve read the book. I was more interested in footage of Warhol’s studio set up, including a handmade wall chart … Read more
After several long international flights and a night in Japan, I arrived. The afternoon light was soft. At first, I thought everything was blurred through the aeroplane window. But it looked the same when I stepped outside. Shadows melted into the landscape. Colours seemed at once more vivid and more nuanced. Even the tarmacked air … Read more
The art collector said, “Look, there’s Barry Humphries. You should get a photo.” I followed his eyes and saw the man best known as Dame Edna Everage. He was discretely browsing paintings at the fine art auction preview, catalogue in hand. I remembered his other character – the obscene Sir Les Patterson, Australian Cultural Attaché … Read more
In a few months it will be five years since I returned to Sydney to rebuild my life as an artist. Before leaving Brisbane I rented a room in a boarding house via WhatsApp. I packed the art materials I had left in a few boxes, along with some clothes and books, and sent them … Read more