Collection: REFLECTIONS OF A PIANO

I suppose in a way the piano became the accidental protagonist of this series.

A beach holiday in Brunswick Heads revealed a piano in a shed known as the Sound Shell where the public could play, tinker, listen and create music. The piano had been surreptitiously donated in the middle of the night and the community were touched and delighted. As was I, as I listened one rainy morning to a lady playing tunes in solitude while the rain pattered down in the background. 

You can imagine my surprise when I learned there had been plans to remove the piano for fear of being a public nuisance or a vehicle for vandalism. There were no amps or microphones or electrical cords in sight and I felt incredibly frustrated that this community gift could be in question. Menacingly, I pondered how society had reached such confined approaches to living and community.

And thus, the research and paintings began and the characters and stories grew. Nature, culture, digital environments, community and social media all brought to my attention by the piano in the Sound Shell. And together through a mutual love of song and storytelling, the piano and I reflected on the values we hold in society today.

 Sometimes literal and other times whimsical this series ponders what it means to be a human and the connections we seek within our environment and each other.

“I got on fine with modern living, but must I be such a citizen” Jack Wild by Spoon (Alternative American rock band)

Shipping available open request.