Since the Prehistoric Age the lizard has been depicted in art. In many Indigenous and Asian cultures, it is symbolic of ancestry, fertility, life and death.

During an artist’s residency at Newington Armory in Sydney this year, a pair of lizards would run amok through the studio. Although usually timid, they would chase and dart across my line of vision, around the easel and generally be very distracting. Back in my own studio things were not much better. A family of water monitors settled in under the floor. Quiet moments painting are now interrupted by the sound of their scuttling and a quick glimpse of a long tail can be quite startling.

It soon became obvious that the continual presence of lizards should be conveyed in the paintings. The intruders added a lightness to my original aim of revisiting still life in the traditional sense. They also added life back into the compositions. Organic forms of bush pods and fruits, found objects and hand-made ceramic pods now share the compositions with a hint of lizard. The natural tones and colour in the paintings are derived from their exquisite markings. The light reflects our changing sky. When the lizards disappeared into hibernation at the beginning of winter, the paintings seemed to wait for their return.

Maryanne Wick, November 2009

About the Artist
Maryanne Wick draws attention to the incidental but often poignant moments we miss in our hectic day to day lives. Through painting and drawing, her subject matter focuses primarily on figurative and still life composition to convey ‘a sense of place’ in quiet, unassuming ways. She has been described by art critic John McDonald (Sydney Morning Herald, 16 February 2008) as ‘an emerging painter with a subtle, distinctive touch’.

Born in Sydney, Maryanne has lived and worked in London, Beijing, Seoul and Hong Kong. She is a lecturer in drawing at the National Art School in Sydney, from which she graduated in painting in 2001. In the same year, she was a finalist in the Sulman Prize Exhibition and left Sydney to live in South Korea. Maryanne spent the next five years living in Asia and this experience was invaluable to her development as an artist. It provided the opportunity and time to focus on her own practice while being immersed in the art and culture of North Asia. She explored a variety of media and surface and was introduced to the many customs, traditions, beliefs and stories which influence her work today.

In conjunction with artist residencies in Beijing, Spain and Chicago, the Bundanon Trust (Nowra, NSW) and at Newington Armory (Sydney Olympic Park), Maryanne’s work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions in both Australia and South Korea. ‘Still Life and Saurian’ is her seventh solo exhibition.

Maryanne continues to explore ways of marrying her Australian heritage with her acquired North Asian sensibilities.