About Jacinta Payne

Warrandyte artist Jacinta Payne is best known for her atmospheric, abstract landscapes on canvas, often made using reclaimed and upcycled materials.

Absorbed and inspired by her surroundings, she attempts to capture the strength and beauty of the Australian wilderness, and portray both its ancient terrains and its enduring spirit.

Drawing on her love of the Australian bush and an endless inspiration in the resilience and renewal of the living landscape, Payne’s art explores the coexistence of vulnerability and hope.  The ancient landscapes of Australia, with their timeless rocks and cliffs shaping the contours of this wild land, are central to her art practice.  The invigorating feeling of walking in quiet places among magnificent giant trees, and a lifelong fascination with the textures and details found in the understory of the forest—moss, lichen, bark, rocks—further informs the essence of her work.

Growing up in the bush on the outskirts of the NSW Southern Highlands, surrounded by the collective creativity of her family, Payne developed an intuitive approach to her art making. While her roots are in traditional art, abstraction always pulled at her heart strings.  In an ever-evolving practice that involves experimental techniques and intuitive mark-making, she uses many and varied tools to apply medium, often handmade implements, cloth, or indeed her hands.  This tactile method creates a direct connection between herself and the artwork, allowing her to channel memory, and convey into each piece the raw experience of being in the landscapes she loves.

Her intrigue with ethereal moments like the changing light on the surfaces of the ground, or vibrant new growth emerging from blackened, fire-damaged land inspires her to portray natures remarkable ability to recover and thrive.  Her work also reflects on current uncertainties; the profound losses faced by both nature and humanity, and conveys a hope and optimism for a brighter future, one that is more aligned with the harmonious practices of the Indigenous peoples of this land.