This new body of landscape paintings by David Leece speak of a connection to and a deep respect for the natural world. These works resulted from travel to Shoalhaven on the south-coast of New South Wales (to Jerrinja Country, and Thawa Country, further south) while on a road trip that Leece took with friends to Bundanon and Green Cape Lighthouse in Ben Boyd National Park. Painted upon his return to Melbourne, the works were developed from hundreds of photographs and from sketches of the landscape executed while there.
Over the course of his busy working life, David Leece has consistently made art, even finding time while heading up a large architectural firm to make new work. However, it was a bush painting trip around 2004 that was to cement his interest in capturing the power of the Australian landscape and the role that art can play in fostering greater care for the land. Led by the late artist Mandy Martin (d. 2021) and her husband Guy (a beef farmer and former director of Bush Heritage Australia, among other roles), this became the first of many painting trips in the Australian bush, cementing a strong friendship between Mandy, Guy and David, and David’s wife Fran. Through these experiences David came to share Mandy’s conviction that conservation is an urgent national priority, and his paintings reflect an engagement with both the landscape and people; their inspiration often coming from social gatherings and field trips.
The paintings in Landings may be devoid of people, but their vistas have been admired and scrambled over by friends who chat, complain about aching muscles, and discuss their experiences in detail over many meals. The sense of camaraderie and generosity at their heart is reflected in their soft, evocative palette and in the care of their depiction of the landscape. David Leece’s paintings are crafted from love, and in the hope that these scenes will inspire others to think about and appreciate what we have, and what it might mean to lose it.
Kelly Gellatly
Kelly Gellatly is a curator, writer and arts advocate and is the founding director of Agency Untitled.
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