Wrasse Landscape # 3
Janis Nedela
2005 | acrylic on canvas | accession number 672
purchased by the Art Board 2005 - Murdoch University Art Collection

Janis NEDELA

born 1955, Perth, Western Australia
lives and works, Fremantle, Western Australia

Wrasse Landscape # 3 is a stunning painting to look at, but also physically engaging as the work is also intelligent in what it reveals and what it references.

The subject matter and the two distinct depths of reference within the paintings also make charged viewing. At first glance, this painting may seem a shift to those who know Nedéla's previous work. Certainly, in its materiality, his work has moved on but, in its essence, this is still about the way we confine ourselves through language and the lifelong process of revealing the self.

Sumptuous in its' swirling atmospheric brushstrokes, this painting is an abstraction of an image of a fish. It sounds simple enough but this is just the starting point. The fish is a Wrasse, a tropical reef fish. A master of camouflage, it's also characterised by an ability to change sex a male takes a harem and when it dies, the lead female changes sex and takes the role of the dominant male. An intriguing subject and a wonderful metaphor for the inconsistent labels and boundaries we put on ourselves as individuals within the complexities of life. Within the world of the colourful wrasse all is indeed not black and white.

Beyond this subject matter, Nedéla has created a split depth technique in his paintings, allowing two simultaneous art references to create further discussion on ownership, revelation and secrecy. Who owns us, how do we portray ourselves and how does society curtail what we choose to reveal emotionally?

The swirling atmospheric brushstrokes read, as a direct technical reference to the paintings of Turner. These brushstrokes are used to great effect by Nedéla as a depth gauge. In the work there is this emotional maelstrom that goes on underneath the surface of the paintings. They are homage to Turner's technical mastery of the romantic landscape but, in the context of the Wrasse and the idea of sexual metamorphosis, they also appear to reference the secret side of J.M. W. Turner's life. A few of his erotic drawings survive in notebooks but most were destroyed by the critic and dealer, John Ruskin a spontaneous ethical decision that has spurned never-ending debate.

On top of the beautifully adapted Turner brushwork, Nedéla has covered each painting with a layer of dots. Set out in lines applied with a pinhead, they have the effect of raising the canvas. Actually, they split the eye between the underneath and the surface, and the effect leaves the viewer's body literally swimming somewhere in between. The dots, in their application, are reminiscent of scarification and, in this case and as a painting method, it is a wonderfully considered technique that works in reminding the viewer that this is about the body, their body.

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