Abstraction of the Sculptural Form of the Sydney Opera House

Posted by Jo Murphy Apr 15, 2009

Carl from CAKUart describes Sydney as a "living breathing ball of energy that is truly inspiring." He demonstrates his painting techniques on the CAKUTV clip saying that he has "tried to capture the opera house as night closes in." He wanted to abstract the design of the Opera House so that it suggested the building and its environment as a blurry adition to the mass appeal that is the city as a whole." He says that he has captured the Harbour Bridge as an accomodating backdrop to one of Australia's geographical logos.

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"Opera House" was painted by Carl (CAKUart) It is acrylic on canvas and is 121.8 x 91.4cm It has been painted onto a 4 centimetre deep gallery wrapped canvas. Throughout the cleverly constructed video you can see the way that Carl sketchs the design. After blocking major areas with colour, he develops the abstract qualities of the seaside symbol by pairing back the forms with white. This creates a lyrical composition that is rich with soft suggestion and nuance.

It is a joyous painting and it captures the look and feel of the Opera House as well as the sporty outdoorishness of popular Australian culture.

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As you will see from this lesson plan about scripting artist's statements and this article about how to teach students to develop their arts based practice, Carl has a lot to say about management of an artistic career. When you watch the video called The Rejection Letter, you will see the clever way that Carl talks of the history of the opera house. He compares the trials of that project to the personal struggles artists have with their creative projects in general.

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If you would like to know more about the Australian iconic architecture, read The Sydney Opera House a Theatre Surrounded by Water.