KEN DONE
A LOT OF YOUR NEW WORK HAS BEEN TAKEN UP BY BIG environmental issues such as the Great Barrier Reef and Antarctica, and you have tackled the Australian landscape. Do you now look for bigger messages in your work?
Well, I would think that any artist who makes a painting and it sets out to be beautiful – whether it’s the Barrier Reef, a garden or a landscape – in a sense that’s a kind of political statement. I’m not out there waving banners in the street. But every time I do a painting of the Barrier Reef, clearly I want people to consider how important it is, how we need to look after it.
By and large I’m a painter. Like all painters, you are driven by an inner thing that keeps you working and keeps you learning. There are certain subject areas that you like to do. Because I live by the beach, I have made lots of pictures about the beach. But in regard to causes, I’ll give you a couple of concrete examples. I’ve had quite a few exhibitions about being under the water and I’ve always found it an amazing environment to be in.
I happen to be the ambassador for Sea Turtles. Now, I naively thought that if a sea turtle when it’s little, hatches and gets across the sand that that’s it, it’s OK. It’s not; it’s the
