Matthew Armstrong

I’ve always painted my local environment – a contemporary view of it  ( a critical environmental  realism ).  As a landscape painter my main motivation is painting urban landscapes that push the boundaries of the picturesque.

In the foothills of Mount Wellington on the margins of Glenorchy I found a place at the top of Chapel Street facing west – a waterway called Humphries Rivulet – a beautiful natural feature that has been disrespectfully relegated from it’s rightful position in nature to the commonplace.  The  transformation of this place is evident from it’s remnants. Humphries  Rivulet is part of the suburban Glenorchy landscape, subsequently it comes with all the neglect associated with a social and environmental  impoverishment.

As an  urban landscape painter I find Humphries Rivulet interesting because these places are on the margins –  they present interesting incongruous imagery – beauty marred by the modern human presence. I paint  landscapes that aren’t perfect, this is inevitable for an urban landscape painter.  I dare to find beauty in these places – every place has its’ moment.  Humphries Rivulet is still an undeniably beautiful area despite the obvious degradation and is as worthy a subject for a landscape painter as any pristine natural environment.

Even the ugliest urban landscape interests me.  Humphries Rivulet is far from ugly, yes it is marred, but it still has a natural integrity and beauty that speaks to me of the past.