Ondine Seabrook is a Sydney based painter who graduated from the National School of Arts in 2017. Seabrook has exhibited her work in a multitude of group shows and now presents her premiere solo show 'Sharks and Roses'. Having developed an interest in the Australian landscape from an early age this theme flows throughout her contemporary practice. 'Sharks and Roses' is as much a reaction to materials as it is a response to place, whilst the works are often drawn from particular sites of her environment they simultaneously offer a more vague, expressive sense of being using distorted shapes and gestural marks heading towards abstraction. Selected paintings within the oeuvre are referential of objects the artist encounters within her everyday life, whether it be a toy shark found in Petersham pool or a vibrant red flower in a park. The same selective approach is applied to the use of materials, both with colour and texture, the works feature differing combinations of mediums such as putting a dull, matte textured acrylic against a glossy vibrant oil.
"Overall the process and paintings are playful, not too serious but also a bit serious. Just before the paintings get too colourful, they are balanced out by a dark grey because in the end roses are sweet but sharks are scary."