Adoration: Recent Paintings by Jennifer Riddle.
In this exhibition, "Adoration", I’ve continued to focus on the remote wilderness landscape of Poynduc / Port Davey in Lutruwita / Tasmania’s remote Southwest. It is a landscape that has consumed much of my artistic practice for the past decade and a subject that has helped shape my philosophies surrounding our innate relationship with nature. As we enter an era when humanity’s relationship with our environment becomes increasingly complex, this body of work serves as a personal tribute of reverence to nature, offering a moment of connection and reflection for the viewer through a devotional, spiritual, and empathetic lens.
At the centre of this exhibition stands the genesis of the show, a polyptych comprising six painted panels titled Adoration. Like the devotional religious altarpieces that historically pay homage to and worship a divine
figure, this artwork pays tribute to the sacredness of nature and our soulful, innate connection to its presence. The external panels of the painting were loosely inspired by the Flemish masters who painted in the grisaille style (monochromatic) on the outside of their altarpieces to create a solemn, subdued version of the artwork, before opening up the hinged wings to a more vibrant depiction. It is this form of reverence that I hope is translated in all my artworks, many of which I’ve painted in portrait format to reflect a more devotional presence, such as the theological paintings found in places of worship and the traditional Shan Shui / Sansui (‘Mountain and Water’), paintings of China and Japan.
The rugged yet calm depictions of this World Heritage area often remind me of the Shan Shui / Sansui paintings, which share similar characteristics — an interplay of hardness and softness, contrast and harmony. Here, robust mountains and rock formations contrast with atmospheric mists and flowing waters, evoking both permanence and transience. This balance creates a sense of stability and calm—a peacefulness that dissolves our sense of self and invites a communion with that which pulses before us.
Being immersed in this landscape, you soon realise that it’s not just the tangible physicality of what you see that can make a place so profound, but also the intangible, invisible, and incomprehensible aspects. That is to say, there is an undeniable transcendence that occurs when witnessing the expanse of space that surrounds the landscape, an elemental void that hangs between you and the distance. Here, it is both empty and complete—a depth of space to extend one’s consciousness into the sublime, feel the interconnection of all life forms, and escape the inundating stimuli from the outside world. For in this moment, it is where the heart of the landscape is felt, where the realm between humanity and divinity coalesces with an overwhelming sense of adoration.
