Interview

Sep 8

Sally Green

Sally Green has been painting since she was a child and has had several different artistic careers, the first being an airbrush artist, then 20 years blowing glass. Now she is a full-time abstract artist creating heavily textured acrylic works on canvas and panels. Her paintings are emotionally expressive pieces, reflecting the natural landscape and tones of Australia. Her unique style reflects the natural world that she feels a deep affinity with, even using parts of it in her paintings, like local sand, rocks and handmade pigments from Bunjalung country where she resides near Byron Bay. Creating primarily for herself yet always mindful of the viewer, Sally aims to stir feeling rather than dictate meaning. Her techniques—honed over many years—include fluid art, airbrushing, encaustic painting and traditional brushwork, resulting in flowing, organic, and richly textured compositions.

What inspires you?

“Old and rusty walls and surfaces, decaying buildings and aged paint flaking off. I’ve always loved looking out of the window of a plane down with a bird's-eye view of the land, the way rivers meander and water erodes the mountains.”

How would you describe your work?

“My works are abstract, textured, aerial landscapes. I play with structure using found objects and handmade pigments from the land around me. I sometimes coat the pieces in hot wax, (encaustic medium) which gives a very tactile finish that hardens and cures over time.”

Which artists influence you most?

“The artist I've always loved the most is Salvador Dalí and the surrealists. But these days I'm more influenced by European abstract artists like Pauline Lindberg, Bettina Hachmann and Gorrica Jeremič. The use of texture and structure and different techniques has fascinated me. These are the three of the best.”

What is your creative process like?

“My pieces imitate the natural erosion and tidal patterns of the Earth. I create structures using natural materials like lime and marble dust that resemble rocks, outcrops of stone, or mountains. I then apply pigments. I then spray the pieces with water, mimicking the rain. Then I let it dry. Sometimes with air, sometimes with fire( using a blowtorch.) Then I let it dry again, mimicking the eons of time. Days, nights, months, years go by before another layer of sediment/ pigments blows over the landscape, eroding or building the colors over time. And finally, I add the gold and bronze light of the sun hitting the highlights . I really love the long afternoon light you get in autumn and I imagine that golden glow hitting the peaks and shadowing the lows.
For me art is cathartic, a form of transmutation of emotions into form. Time disappears as I become lost in a meditative world of colour and texture. The blending of colours becomes an act of release, an alchemical process through which aspects of my inner world are expressed. Each canvas I paint becomes a playground of colours, shapes and emotions, inviting the viewer to embark on a journey of interpretation. I am inspired by the chaos and harmony of the natural world, so my creations reflect the interplay between the tangible and the intangible. My goal is to invite introspection and conversations that transcend conventional boundaries. My work captures the tension between what is felt and what is unseen.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“Artist's role in society is to help others see the beauty in this world and to evoke feeling. Also, I aim to stir their imagination with my abstract art, allowing their limbic brain to make connections from abstract forms.”

Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?

“Currently exhibiting at HAART gallery in Mullumbimy. Also there 6 months ago, I had solo exhibition in my retail premises KIN in Mullumbimby. Have an upcoming one at THE Garage Gallery in December and SOL Gallery in Melbourne in March 2027.”