Wandoo

"I selected Eucalyptus Wandoo because of its stunning silky white bark, red leaking sap and gnarly form; it also has an Aboriginal name Wandoo. In Noongar, Wandoo means tree. The Wandoo tree has a very hard wood and was used to make wooden nails for boat building. The Wandoo Forest at Mt Observation about 15 Kilometres west of York in WA was my studio. As I drove down the main road into York, I was moved to see Wandoo trees on both sides of the road representing Western Australians killed in world wars."

Jo Darvall 2021

Artist Profile has published an online article on Darvall's Wandoo with excerpts from Dr Kevin Robertson's essay; the article is available to view here.

Esay Light 2021 oil on canvas 83 x 83

Solo exhibition Linton and Kay Galleries Perth (private collection)

Wandoo Grey Blue 2021 oil on canvas 144 x 192

Solo exhibition Linton and Kay Galleries Perth (collected)

Wandoo Path, 2021
66 x 102 cm Watercolour and pastel on arches paper. Finalist York Botanic Art Prize 2021 (Private Collection)

Wandoo Blue Mountain, 2021
Watercolour and pastel on arches paper, 57 x 76 cm Private Collection

Wandoo Observation Area, 2021
Watercolour and pastel on Arches paper, 68 x 102 cm Private Collection

Wandoo Exhibition 2021, Linton & Kay Galleries, West Perth. Photo by Miles Noel Photography

Wandoo Study Collected

Wandoo Grey 2021

watercolour 68 x 88 cm

Solo exhibition Linton and Kay Galleries (sold)

Install Wandoo Solo exhibition at Linton and Kay Galleries Perth 2021

Jo Darvall is drawn to its multifarious allure of the Western Australian landscape. It’s light and distances are intense and huge, and at the same time, paradoxically, there is apparently not much to see. With miles of Wheatbelt and the enormous expanses of temperate woodland then desert, there are no obvious vistas – just a vastness that defies quantification. While cameras can record the material facts of gravel and the stippled bark of this environment, for Darvall, it is this intangible space that she sets about articulating through her work.

Darvall tackles this problem in different ways. At times here work is reminiscent of modernist painters like Kathleen O’Connor or more recently Anne Maughan where the brush marks break down the space, but it can’t quite be contained by an Impressionistic frame. Her new work takes on the calligraphic qualities of Chinese watercolour painting, and is pushed tantalizingly closer to abstraction.

The Wando Forrest near Mount Observation is the reference point for this series of paintings. This landscape and her work show a strong attraction to each other. The colours in the landscape itself are muted, leaning towards, greys, and olive greens with occasional flashes of burn sienna. This is reflected in her palette in works such as Wandoo Study or Wandoo, Blue Mountain. In both works, the broader atmospheric washes are accented on the Arches paper with deft vertical strokes that conjure the trees and scrub of the area. The painting do more than represent the bush – instead the two things, the landscape and her paintings, are in conversation with each other, showing a mutual affinity.

The colours in Darvall’s paintings are translucent, allowing the smooth white infinite space of the paper to seep through everything. Her work says a lot about the experience of space and light in this landscape without quoting the specific details directly. As one might stare through the patterns of a tablecloth to call up inner worlds and memories, Darvall’s paintings take the patterns of the Wando Forrest to conjure the space and spirit of the landscape.

Dr Kevin Robertson