Summer’s pretty much here (37 degrees in Sydney today!), and for many Australians this means road trips up and down the coast, past endless fibro shacks to “our special place” by the sea. Increasingly, “our special place” means “our five bedroom, five bathroom, McMansion-on-the-Pacific”, but regardless, there are still plenty of fibro wonders to be found, even if they, too, are going glam ($2,500/week for a pink fibro in Culburra, anyone?).
I have fond childhood memories of summer holidays. Our special place was Forster, at my grandparents waterfront house with an avocado tree out the front, and palm trees out the back. Living in a landlocked city, it was exciting visiting the coast, spending countless hours at the beach, running down sand dunes and eating too many mangoes.
In her exhibition soon to begin at Iain Dawson Gallery, artist Robyn Sweaney takes us back to a time when the coast was synonymous with simplicity, when pastel fibro houses were the norm, and chiko rolls and iced coffee the cuisine du jour. Her acrylic-on-poly-canvas works, based on homes along the Pacific Highway in New South Wales, display little emotion, their pastel colours and window shades belying their carefree past. Manicured lawns, topiary trees and seagulls are all depicted in a flat manner, evoking coastal heat, childhood memories and – dare I say it – just a hint of boredom. But isn’t that what summer’s all about?
Images copyright Iain Dawson.
