André de Vanny

This work will be on show at Carriageworks from 3-6 September as part of Curatorial+Co.'s Sydney Contemporary 2026 presentation.

André de Vanny explores the tension between the abject and the sublime, drawing on the ethereal qualities of early Renaissance painting and the visual language of contemporary abstraction. His practice is deeply physical, incorporating cycles of disintegration and repair that reflect the human experiences of trauma, resilience, and healing.

Says de Vanny of this work, "The rich, textured ground for this painting was developed over several years. What began as a raw cloth of fine Belgian linen was saturated and soaked in the Queen River in Tasmania for many weeks. Each time I visited the river I would unfold the linen, infuse more pigment into the weave, and then soak and fold the works once more.

"The Queen River is said to be one of the most polluted rivers in Australia, having had over 100 million tons of copper tailings flushed through it over several decades. The figures that appear in this painting were realised through an intuitive process of mark making and colour exploration, leaving room for open interpretation."