Amanda Schunker

"'Erosional Surface' embodies the gritty energy of a specific site at Yiruk Wamoon/Wilson’s Promontory that I have revisited time and again. The groundwork commenced liberally in the studio based on memory. It was then built upon location and later refined in the studio. By layering these different moments of familiarity, I hope to translate the rugged beauty of a landscape that reveals more and more of itself each time it is revisited," says Amanda Schunker.

Schunker's work navigates the intersection of a complex multicultural heritage, shaped by Chinese, Indian, and European lineages across England and Australia, and the raw, indifferent endurance of the natural world. Schunker seeks a practice that is unbound—free from cultural restraints, the historical weight of ancestral bound feet, and the internal prejudices we impose upon ourselves.

To paint abstracted rock formations 'en plein air' is to enter a non-denominational sanctuary: a space that belongs to no one and everyone. Time in the field serves as the essential substrate of Schunker’s practice, through which she captures the “bones” of the work. These outdoor sessions are a pursuit of neutrality, painting without borders to remain as unattached as possible, yet responsive to a multitude of triggers found in nature.