In his adherence to the craft of drawing and painting as well as in his choice of subjects, Andrew Daly is more oriented to tradition than most Western Australian artists and it is difficult to locate any specifically local references in his work. His approach to painting is gentle but studious and deliberate, with each canvas preceded by carefully executed preparatory studies, most commonly in pencil. While Daly's preliminary drawings are an important way for him to refine his ideas. they are also an essential editorial step towards the perfection of his finished images by eliminating all unnecessary distractions.
Daly's process of simplification leads to static images that have a predominantly silent, calm and innocent character of idealism and are reminiscent of early primitive paintings of the Italian Renaissance so much admired by the artist. The linear clarity that illuminates Daly's painting is another well-known attribute of classic art, but the artist's extremely precise manner of rendering gives his work a distinctive hypnotic intensity.
His preferred motifs most usually are portraiture, still life or compositions that enable him to isolate the human figure in a particular environment. His paintings are intensely personal introspective and relatively small in size. Portraits are almost invariably restricted to close friends, while his more ambitious compositions are a combination of memory and imagination which show the figure distinctly subservient to the environment.
Daly's work is restrained and understated with colours that are bright but subtle
Despite the meticulous finish of his paintings, Daly's heroes and heroines have pensive expressions and casual dress, that bring a sense of intimate informality.
The lonely brooding forests and desolate Spartan subways where Daly isolates them suggest that we are glimpsing a
mysterious private world and infuse his images with a
fascinating quality of voyeurism.
It is the symbolic meaning of these haunting locales, as much as their formal qualities, that influence the reading of Daly's work.
From the book, Artists in Residence, Sandpiper Press 1996, photography by Richard Waldendorp and text by John Stringer. John Stringer was an internationally recognised art curator who came to Western Australia after a distinguished career in Victoria at the National Gallery and New York at the MOMA.
Daly's process of simplification leads to static images that have a predominantly silent, calm and innocent character of idealism and are reminiscent of early primitive paintings of the Italian Renaissance so much admired by the artist. The linear clarity that illuminates Daly's painting is another well-known attribute of classic art, but the artist's extremely precise manner of rendering gives his work a distinctive hypnotic intensity.
His preferred motifs most usually are portraiture, still life or compositions that enable him to isolate the human figure in a particular environment. His paintings are intensely personal introspective and relatively small in size. Portraits are almost invariably restricted to close friends, while his more ambitious compositions are a combination of memory and imagination which show the figure distinctly subservient to the environment.
Daly's work is restrained and understated with colours that are bright but subtle
Despite the meticulous finish of his paintings, Daly's heroes and heroines have pensive expressions and casual dress, that bring a sense of intimate informality.
The lonely brooding forests and desolate Spartan subways where Daly isolates them suggest that we are glimpsing a
mysterious private world and infuse his images with a
fascinating quality of voyeurism.
It is the symbolic meaning of these haunting locales, as much as their formal qualities, that influence the reading of Daly's work.
From the book, Artists in Residence, Sandpiper Press 1996, photography by Richard Waldendorp and text by John Stringer. John Stringer was an internationally recognised art curator who came to Western Australia after a distinguished career in Victoria at the National Gallery and New York at the MOMA.
