Nature vs Nurture

Over the past half decade Mark Rodda has consistently painted magical landscapes. The primary source of inspiration for these works has come from the European Romantic Landscape tradition of the 18th and 19th century. Rodda’s work has been especially influenced by the painting of French artists Eugene Delacroix and Camile Corot; Swiss Arnold Bocklin; German Casper David Friedrich; Norwegian Theodor Kittelsen; and English mythical Pre-Raphaelite William Waterhouse. Rough terrain, mist and fog, shadowed mountains and craggy trees are common within these picture planes. Scenes from nature dominate the works but, as the title suggests, the activities, and thought projections of humans, animals, and mystical creatures cannot help but leave their mark on the landscape.

Rodda was born in Tasmania and lives and works in Melbourne. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting) at the University of Tasmania, Launceston, in 1994 and Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) at RMIT, Melbourne in 1999. He has held solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include Lairs of the Haunted, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne 2014; Shoeglaze, Gallery 9, Sydney, 2013; Autumn Landscapes, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2012; Mark Rodda and Jake Walker, Utopian Slumps at Auckland Art Fair, New Zealand, 2011; Sleeping Giants, Utopian Slumps, 2011; Phantom Lords, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne, 2010; Tidal River, Kings ARI, Melbourne, 2009; True Game Systems (in collaboration with Utopian Slumps and Büro North), Next Wave Festival, Federation Square, Melbourne, 2008; The Inland Sea (with Jake Walker), Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2007; and Under A Tungsten Star, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, 2007. Selected group exhibitions include Sublime Point - The Landscape in Painting, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, NSW 2014; Group Show, Gallery 9, Sydney, 2014; Rock, Vapour, Fissures, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2013; The Painting Group, Utopian Slumps, 2010; Notfair, Melbourne, 2010; The Ultimate Time Lapse Megamix, Next Wave Festival, Federation Square, 2010; Everything We Build We Tear Apart, Poimena Gallery, Launceston, 2010; Territorial Pissings, Utopian Slumps, 2010; The Shilo Project, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Warrnambool Art Gallery, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney and Mildura Arts Centre, 2010; Visage, Firstdraft, Sydney, 2009; Where in the Woods?, VCA Margaret Lawrence

Gallery, Melbourne, 2008. Rodda was finalist in the Wynne Prize and John Leslie Art Prize in 2013, the Rick Amor Drawing Prize in 2014, and winner of the Glover Prize in 2014.