Nick Glade-Wright – In Search of the Hidden Lake

No one has a love affair with orange quite like painter Nick Glade-Wright, and the power of colour is the driving force behind his striking new abstracts.

While the subject matter and moods of Nick’s current Handmark exhibition – In Search of the Hidden Lake – may vary, those powerful orange hues which have become his signature, are a constant: “I think every single painting has some orange. As well as being a strong, exciting and happy colour, it is also ambiguous. Orange can convey optimism, heat, even challenge, and signals the relentless seasonal changes which are all powerful metaphors for our existence.”

In Search of the Hidden Lake follows Nick’s quest to find the meaning of this existence as we “strive for things that we are not quite sure about whether it’s to do with relationships, family or career.” And Nick turns to the landscape for answers with inspiration flowing from our emotional connection to the natural world around us.

Orange becomes a warning in the stunning White Shadows where Nick explores the human imprint on landscape. Ghostly dead trees set against a stylized Tasmanian backdrop combine past and present as the work delves into the cost of expanding settlement. In contrast, this potent color speaks of happiness in Incoming Tide (Brown’s River, Kingston Beach) as orange-hued crowds cavort in the sands under the summer sun. But, it is in Torso where orange bursts with emotional intensity as it brings a powerful sensuality to Nick’s fluid female form.
Nick Glade-Wright’s In Search of the Hidden Lake exhibition runs until March 7