About

Barb Hodgens is a painter who works from her home studio in Melbourne, Australia. She received Bachelor a Fine Art in Painting from Monash University and a Postgraduate Degree in Sculpture from the Victorian College of the Arts.

Barb paints intuitively and is led by feeling, trusting the work to evolve organically. Predominantly working with acrylic on board and paper, she delights in exploring colour and textural delicacy and layering detailed white linework - which she calls ‘veiling’. 

Flowers are a motif she uses most often but inspiration comes from a diverse range of sources that include fragments of personal memory, meditation, Japanese and Indian art, sacred geometry, antique botanical drawings, and the elements: air, water and sun.

Graphic elements float between absence and presence, real and imagined and invite the viewer to consider what can’t be seen. Through her art, Barb seeks to provide a source of optimism, wonderment, and inspiration. The veiling, a portal to an almost devotional object.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I explore themes of nature, capturing beauty and magical worlds of renewed possibility. I find inspiration in simple, everyday beauty; daily walks with my dog, flowers in suburban gardens, bush paths along the Merri Creek and South Gippsland beaches where I regularly visit.

I like to create scenes that float between the ordinary and the mystical. Flowers are abstracted and weaved into most paintings. I enjoy a light and bright pallet, that is filled with optimism.

The process and practise of painting is just as important as the finished work. My creative muse comes once I find stillness. Repetition and intricate detailing are akin to a spiritual practise for me. Studio time, becoming a form of therapy. 

It’s important to me that my work lifts and heightens people’s mood and experience of the world around them. Each piece invites the viewer into a meditative space of reflection and connection. My intention and hope are that my work, both embodies and evokes an experience of presence, stillness and beauty.