MIRROR SEA

We are delighted to be exhibiting new works by Arryn Snowball in a solo exhibition.

His paintings and drawings are highly sought after as they bring a sense of freedom and openness into a place.

Arryn Snowball (born 1977 in Sydney) is an Australian artist who has been living in Berlin for some time and travels extensively.

His work encompasses painting, drawing, text and collaborative projects with poets, musicians, performers and scientists.

An impressively long list documents solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Europe and Japan, including a retrospective exhibitionat the Caboolture Art Gallery in Queensland, Australia. His works are held in major public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia and Artbank.

Various publications/catalogs

Listed on artfacts.net

The artist himself on his latest works:

I think of these paintings as traps for light and colour, as nets of rhythm and movement, as vessels to hold whatever the metaphors and the meanings that might be found in them.

I imagine these paintings as atmospheres at different times of day, as fragments of sky or sea.

I imagine reflections from above and below the water, the pull of the wind and the tide, the glare across the shallows and the glint in the depths.

I pretend that I’m pulling the surface of

the water up unto the wall, to make a window. I pretend this window is also a mirror that reflects the ocean within.

This last year I’ve been living in Northern Finland on the edge of the Baltic Sea. In winter it freezes over completely. It feels odd that now in summer I can swim where I once walked.

These are not paintings of the Baltic, but perhaps there is something of a correspondence.

A common metaphor for the unconscious is that of an inner sea or ocean filled with memories and images. What is the shape of this space, what reflects off the surface, or deep within it?

There is an underlying grid in these paintings that provides a structure for the pattern and an architecture for the colour. It also provides a certain order to play against, as any inconsistencies generate movement and depth.

I think of the grid as a net to catch space and colour, light and atmosphere, rhythm and being.

Usually I work the whole surface in layers of pigment, tempera and oil.

I worked line over colour, colour over line. Sometimes the lines build into lattices and gem-like geometries.

At some point the painting arrives and is able to hold the expanse of the canvas.

I prefer the meaning of the work as something that emerges out of the process, rather than a planned intention. The paintings gather associations and find their own titles, these are not prescriptive descriptions, they are simply names.

I like to think of a painting as a vessel for meaning, like a bowl it wants to fill up with things. Just like a bowl you can turn it upside down to empty it out again.

Arryn Snowball, 2026