Emerging Canberra-based artist Bethany Saab started painting only recently, during the first COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020.
Bethany has no formal training in painting and having been painting for less than a year, her style is swiftly evolving. Bethany was exposed to art early, watching her late mother, Anne, paint landscapes in oils in her home studio in central Australia. Anne’s brushes and palette knives form part of Bethany’s tools for work. Originally training as a psychologist, Bethany has worked in mental health for over a decade as well as having a few years as a self-taught floral designer as one half of Wagga Wagga-based micro flower farm and studio florist Little Triffids Flowers.
Bethany’s style is tight, detailed and hard-edged and despite the frequent inclusion of high-contrast elements or punchy colour palettes, the work is harmonious with a sense of calm. Predominantly still life, Bethany’s paintings have a strong sense of time and place.
“This collection was made during a brief period of 10 weeks and are the product of intensive engagement in the act of producing. These works depict inviting scenes of domestic life and capture snapshots in time with playful light, shadow and perspective. Collected, common or personal objects are rendered life-size to invite the viewer into the moment, with cultural and brand references lending a sense of familiarity and nostalgia. Patterned and graphic elements are presented alongside areas of space and room to rest. These works speak to the slowing down and nesting in of recent times, domestication, and to the directness of objects and shadows”.
