Danelle Bergstrom Studio Visit

Danelle Bergstrom has had an extraordinary 12 months. It has been only this long since Bergstrom unveiled ‘Symphony’, an incredibly beautiful and evocative body of work, inspired by sensory memories of her exploration of the outer regions of Darwin and the Northern Territory. For the past year Danelle has continued to paint this landscape, however the intense emotional veracity of the last series of works has given way to a subtler interpretation of the same sense impressions.

Amidst the preparation for her exhibition of this new series, Danelle has also completed a number of commissioned portraits including: The Northern Territory Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Trevor Reily, UTS Chancellor and Vice Chancellor Vicki Sara and Ross Milbourne, South Australian Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Doyle, South Australian District Court Chief Judge Terry Worthington and Adelaide University Chancellor John Von Doussa. In the critical realm, Danelle’s compelling portrait of fellow artist Ann Thomson, ‘Independent Spirit’, won the 2010 Portia Geach Memorial Award People’s Choice Award and was also selected for inclusion in the 2011 Salon de Refuses exhibition at the S.H. Ervin Gallery.

Danelle Bergstrom’s exceptional achievements over this past year have culminated in her acceptance of an artist’s residency at Konstepidemin in Göteborg, Sweden to create new works. Founded in 1987, Konstepidemin is a competitive, not-for-profit organisation providing studio facilities for over a hundred professional artists with only five places offered to International practitioners each year.

Bergstrom comments, ” I feel that I am at a pivotal point in the development of my artistic practice. My landscape paintings are sensory memories – they are the way I understand the world and often a metaphor for human condition. I aim to spark a larger conversation about the ability of nature to act as a universal language. It is essential that I gain a physical understanding of the landscape of my heritage in order to better communicate through my painting.”

Before she embarks on this trans-continental artistic voyage, Danelle Bergstrom will exhibit her stunning new collection of work; titled ’10′, at Arthouse Gallery, May 10 – 28. In anticipation of this exhibition we visited Danelle at her Chippendale studio, taking the time to delve into her new paintings, her process and the space in which she creates them.