Interview
R’baahn
R’baahn is an emerging contemporary watercolorist from Yackandandah, Australia.
Using watercolour on paper, R’baahn builds colorful and detailed transparent layers. Realistic images of flora & fauna are overlaid with repetitive marks, representing patterns of behavior. Together, these articulate the human relationship with the natural world.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I’m from a tiny town in regional Victoria, Australia. I was lucky to grow up in an artistically celebrated community. I’ve always been a creative thinker and doer, and so I studied painting and drawing at university.
I now work as an artist from my little studio in Yackandandah. Getting here has been rough, but all those bumps in the road have been necessary for my artistic development.”
What inspires you?
“Our relationship with the natural world forever inspires me. Especially the way humans interact within ecosystems which they are both a natural and unnatural part of. I focus on the human construct and perception of benevolence, and where that belongs in nature. While we are all inspired to be benevolent, it's impossible to be wholly benevolent. Being in nature motivates me to create, shout, whisper, and paint her stories. The disconnect between humanity and spirit must be changed, and communicating on the subject, at the very least, is an excellent place to start.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
"All of my work encompasses the theme of benevolence as a human construct. In nature, nothing is benevolent, and when people interact with nature with intentional altruism, they are still damaging and disrupting the natural ecology, even by just sitting there!
I wish to highlight the apparent disruption we cause to the environment and the insidious and unnoticed damage we do. Our disconnection from the natural world is so profound that we can’t be part of a natural ecosystem.”
How would you describe your work?
“I paint the entirety of the world. Many perspectives—micro, macro, and metaphysical imagery—are layered to form a snapshot of a singular moment. Detailed and colorful images of the natural world are overlaid with complex repetitive marks, representing human behavior, disruption, and ego. These marks obscure the underpainting to create a dazzling and surprising effect. Sometimes, the underpainting becomes muted, and sometimes colors fight and jump.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Janet Lawrence and John Wolseley are my absolute heroes when it comes to championing the plight of nature. I love their ability for storytelling in both a scientific and artistic sense, creating such intricacies in their works. Both artists facilitate the character’s voice, encouraging the environment to make or become the artwork.”
What is your creative process like?
“Before I create, I need to experience. Being outside, exploring, observing—I must let the idea come to me. It just pops into my head! The colors and form it will take will then build up over the next few days. I don’t look at other people’s work and think, ‘I'll try that’.
I value experimentation as a part of my process. I will under-paint and build several layers before I’m ready for the repetitive mark-making. I do this in a very controlled way. There’s a lot of movement and energy at this stage—splashing, scrunching, and shouting too. Once this feels right, I wait a few days and mull over the color choices before me. It’s hard to transition from that freedom of creation to monotonous and controlled mark-making. The color choice has to be spot on, or it won’t work. And the shape of the marks is very considered. Once I settle into this controlled phase, I feel excited as I see the work develop its personality.”
“The artist’s role is to create that which provokes and heals simultaneously. Art is everything and it can heal the world.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Art should affect people. Either make people uncomfortable or provide comfort. Telling a story through my work is a privilege. Leaving something more beautiful, soft, comforting, or more surprising than when it came to you is remarkable. Wrecking stuff is easy; improving requires effort, knowledge, and time.”
