Rhett D'Costa

Parade

2023
acrylic polymer, watercolour, wax on wood
75 x 172cm
Courtesy of the artist

Artist bio

Rhett D'Costa was born in India and immigrated to Australia as a child. He currently lives and works on Dja Dja Wurrung lands in Central Victoria, Australia. 
While his experiences as an Asian-Australian informs his practice led research, from the expressive use of colour to complex expressions of identity and belonging, it is his ongoing commitment to painting which informs all other part of his artistic practice.In a career spanning more than thirty years in art practice and tertiary art education, his focus centres around the Asia-Pacific region. He is currently an Honorary University Fellow of RMIT University. 

Artist statement

'Parade (2023), draws on the colour, complex spatial compositions, multiple narratives, landscapes and architecture in Moghul and Rajput paintings, as well as my lived experiences of the landscape and garden where I live on Dja Dja Wurrang lands. Using the gardens in Moghul and Rajput paintings as a point of departure, Parade (2023) considers the complexities of palace and court life within private and public spaces, and the varied engagements with poetry, landscape, geometry, and cosmology. Forms and narratives build and dissolve across multiple angled panels which potentially translate across time and space to more contemporary social, spatial and temporal experiences and contexts.' 

@rhettjdcosta

This artwork will be on display in the 2023 Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize Finalist Exhibition from Saturday 25 November 2023 until Sunday 18 February 2024.

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