Peter Graham
Radiant Conductor ,
2003
oil on linen
40 x 30 cm (image); 43 x 33 cm (frame)
signed with initials and dated ‘PSG/03’ (lower right)
Provenance
Kaliman Gallery, Sydney
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 2003
Exhibited
Peter Graham, Awake, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney, 30 October – 22 November 2003, cat. 3
The British Museum owns a group of eight small drawings by Peter Graham which were given by John McBride as well as several prints presented by James Mollison.
Of the works in their collection they write: "His mature work expresses the isolation of the self and the attempt to connect to another world. Skull heads and germinating leaves or plant-forms are recurring motifs in his gouaches and paintings. Executed with a delicacy of touch, they suggest the creative process, the fragility of life and the journeying of the human soul. The ethereality of his paintings and large woodcuts is expressed through his use of pale, almost ghostly, colours. Repeated ascending head and leaf forms in these works suggest transcendence or a meditative state." (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG165502)
Image courtesy of the artist.
"My works are created through intense personal observation and developed through the invention of stories and mythologies...
My work describes the processes through which images come into being, unearthed from the dry loam of the head.
To me, the head is a thinking rock, a magic stone. Though it may weep and mourn, abandoned by everything it imagines, it is also a radiant conductor - from inanimate matter, animated forms are spirited." - Peter Graham
Known for his feverish imagination, Graham works across a range of media, including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and sculpture. Born in Sydney in 1970, Graham now lives and works in Melbourne where he is represented by Tolarno Galleries.
His work has been included in many group exhibitions throughout Australia, including 'Negotiating this word: Contemporary Australian Art', National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne , 2012-2013; 'Lives and Times', National Gallery of Victoria, 2007; '2004: Australian Culture Now', National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2004 and, 'Crossing: New Art from Australia', University of Art and Design, Helsinki , 2002.