Perception of Depth: Perth-born artist’s solo exhibition in good shape

The artist is just about to launch his Perception of Depth solo exhibition, and his striking works line the walls and corridors of his Kewdale home.

The Perth-born artist went to film school once upon a time, but found his niche in painting.

“I’ve always sort of dabbled on and off with art. And then it was pretty much about 2013, I was painting a fair bit and I basically set a task to do 50 paintings for the year. Because I figured if I was into it, I’ll do it, but if I don’t, then I wasn’t that into it. So I ended up doing 70,” Lovick said.

“I’ve gone from painting to painting and I haven’t stopped. It’s like an addiction.”

The Kewdale painter said in finding his style, he tried a little bit of everything to see what worked.

“I just love doing it. I think it’s one of those things – if you’re waiting for inspiration, you’ll never do anything,” he said.

Lovick said he was influenced by abstract artist Carmen Herrera and optical artist Victor Vasarely.

“A lot of what I’m trying to do is take up where they left off and put my take on it,” he said.

“Every single shape is only one block of colour, and when they combine, they start to make patterns and look 3D… optical art is what I’m drawn to. I go with the flow and do whatever feels like the right thing to do at the time.”

Hunting for a gallery space big enough to house his works has been a challenge, with the artist almost at the point of renting a warehouse until Studio 281 in Maylands came along.

“They were like, ‘bring as much as you can’. And I said ‘alright, let’s see how big your place really is’,” Lovick said.

Once the show’s done, the painter said he’s looking forward to heading on the road to see how his work reflects his travel.

“After this, there’s a very good chance I’m heading off to Santa Cruz in America… what I want to do is almost like a world tour. I’ve got a bunch of friends I can stay with, and I just want to paint from each location and just see what happens. See if the change in weather or conditions makes me go out on a tangent and do something totally wacky and different,” he said.

But until then, Lovick said he’s looking forward to moving the paintings into the gallery space and being able to see his floor again.

Perception of Depth opens on June 10 at Studio 281 in Maylands, at 281 Guildford Road.

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