Hal with fennel and artichoke
Kylie Banyard, Hal with fennel and artichoke, 2024, acrylic and oil on cherry ballart dyed canvas, 53 x 71cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Nicholas Thompson Gallery, Melbourne.
Transcript
Hal with fennel and artichoke by Kylie Banyard, made with the assistance of Saskia van Pagee Anderson, 2024, is a painting consisting of acrylic and oil on cherry ballart dyed canvas, measuring 71cm high by 53cm wide. The work is unframed.
This work depicts an artichoke plant, close-up and in a realistic manner, its stem extending vertically across the work, with various leaves protruding outward. Slightly to the right of the centre of the work, protruding from the top of the green stem, is a bulb-like formation known as the flower-head. This consists of numerous tear-shaped buds which are the spiky petals of an artichoke, all a mix of peach, brown and yellow colours.
Protruding from the stem are long slender leaves which branch outward – some move towards the bottom left-hand corner of the work, some towards the right hand side and others spiral around the stem. Shades of green are visible as portions of the stem and leaves are partially in shadow, portraying a deep green in colour in some areas whereas other areas appear illuminated and lighter.
Behind the artichoke plant, the background is portrayed as slightly out of focus. Stems of green, brown, and yellow fennel plants with off-shoots are visible sprouting from the ground. The ground varies in colour across the work, ranging from green to brown and yellow.
In the top right-hand corner, still in the distance and amongst all the greenery, there is a figure of a young caucasian boy turned away and angled to the right. Visible is his bare back and shoulders and his right arm. His dark brown hair is short and his right ear and cheek are exposed. He is wearing high waisted blue shorts. The lower portion of his body is obscured behind the leaves of the artichoke plant, except for a small part of his knee.
Dr Kylie Banyard has been a finalist in the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize and was awarded the National Tertiary Art Prize and The Basil and Muriel Art’s Scholarship, Art Gallery of NSW. She has a PhD in Fine Arts from the University of NSW and is a Lecturer of Visual Art at La Trobe University. Banyard’s work is held in numerous public and private collections including Artbank, Australia.
The biographical information included in this audio description was sourced from the Nicholas Thompson Gallery.