Exploring the sublime through the lens of psychedelia, in his new body of work Euphorica, Jack Rowland reimagines the vast Ikara -Flinders Ranges of South Australia as a dream-like utopia, in spite of its rugged and at times hostile environment, through his saturated palette and realist approach to landscape painting.
Euphorica draws inspiration from Rowland’s trip to the Ikara - Flinders Ranges in the middle of summer, where he experienced the vast beauty, extreme heat and a psychedelic journey isolated from the modern world, leading him to embrace a sense of awe and communion with the land in a heightened state of mind. Reflecting this perspective, Rowland depicts the land as a teacher and a healer that can provide a sense of belonging and a respite from human drama.
Seeking to capture the spiritual connection with nature, Rowland draws upon the Romantics’ idea of the sublime: an emotional and transcendental experience of the natural world that inspires reverence. Examining this theme through the use of enhanced colours and meticulous details, Rowland visualises the psychedelic experience of communing with nature, colliding familiar natural landscapes with the inner realm. In this way, his paintings offer the viewer an alternative perception of nature as an ancient, awe-inspiring presence.
