Debbie MacKenzie: Nostalgic Escapes
31st of May – 16th of June 2018

Manyung Gallery Malvern

Debbie’s latest body of work Nostalgic Escapes continues to draw on the emotional yearning for the transcending beauty in nature to calm the complications of a demanding modern life.
Amid true romantic intent, Debbie captures the nostalgia of whimsical childhood contemplation. Where floating clouds or atmospheric skies deliver heightened feelings and emotions, transporting yourself into a place of playful ease and calm.
Debbie intuitively paints somewhere to escape the demands of modern technology and contemporary expectations. Somewhere to be still, quiet and at one with herself.
These are places to be with yourself in your own head, to take time to appreciate the wonder of who we are and where we are! Spiritually, Physically, Emotionally.
In the words of Simon Gregg, whose book New Romantics: Darkness and Light in Australian Art, has become an ongoing reference and source of inspiration for Debbie; ‘Something is happening in Australian art today. We are witnessing the resurgence of ideas that took root centuries ago – a return to passion in art, and a return to atmosphere and awe. Historians called it Romanticism; a disposition for melancholic yearning, for communion with nature, for the sublime.’ Gregg goes onto to say “Today Romanticism implies an aversion to digital technology. To embrace the natural world is to cleanse and purify the soul against the madness of the modern world. Artists who turn to nature today may be seeking such a spiritual respite.”
Debbie believes now more than ever is the time to be a dreamer. To put aside all the constant demands that come with being ‘online’ constantly and returning to the simpler moments of just being present in the moment.