David Palliser

David Palliser is an artist based in Naarm,Melbourne. His work possesses an uncanny oscillation between sensations of abstraction and figuration. Driven by a particular sensitivity to colour and space, it is also informed by his long standing practice as an improvising musician.

With painting I like to keep the ingredients motiveless and find a state of suspension.Style and content seem best when they arrive by default. I find myself pushing things so I can enjoy the incredulity of having certain anomalies all coexisting on a canvas. I don’t know how it will turn out- often the most interesting things happen when a picture reaches a point of hopeless coagulation-things then have to be disowned, indiscriminately erased, or painted over, something has to jump forward or pushed back under the surface. Uncontrol helps control.

Manipulating space with colour gives me something to hang onto and opens the windows however being able to see what I’ve made and how to proceed is always a headache. Like getting off a train and being confronted with a place you thought would be better. The wrong, dull and unbearable bits end up becoming a new point of departure.

Solo Exhibitions:

Falling Sets Forward, 2024