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Kerry Inkster

Kerry Inkster

Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
My name is Kerry Inkster and I am an artist and yoga teacher living in the remote tropical city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia. The world of women swimming underwater features strongly in my work. My paintings explore the female figure and face through poetic symbolism, paint itself, light, colour, and personal journal. I am particularly interested in capturing feelings and in the water’s ability to foster healing, transcendence, escapism, and sanctuary. My paintings have a distinctive, bright palette with saturated tones and contrasting light, and I work predominantly in acrylic on large-scale canvases. I use Notan principles, a term derived from the Japanese language, literally means “light-dark balance.” I find it to be an excellent tool for simplifying the composition of complex scenes and to see value instead of colour. This encourages my exploration of colour, employing Paul Gauguin’s synthetist style, where I aim to synthesise three features in my work; the outward appearance of natural forms; my feelings about my subject; and the purity of the aesthetic considerations of line, colour, and form. My process involves working on each painting individually, so each one is unique in form, colour, and emotion. My paintings tread boundaries between pop art and expressionism, realism and abstraction. I strive to articulate a felt sense in physical form. My mission is to uplift women – this is the engine that fires my entire practice.
My Life had Stood - A Loaded Gun
Isn't it a funny thing
Afternoon swim in my Louboutin’s
Of Leaves and Trembled Blossoms - Extra Large
Close your eyes. Clear your Heart.
Hawaiian Island Doll - Extra Large
Her life flows clean, with passion, like fresh water.
I'm the man that can - Portrait of Wonder Woman
"Little Fourteen-year-old Dancer" after Degas
I give you my hand and welcome you into my dream
Just as cool as you please - Study in tone
Cause I am a Superwoman, Yes I am.
Had I the Heavens - Study in tone
She is the Candle Flame Over Water - Extra Large