Exhibitions

Mark Dober’s large-scale gouache and watercolours take viewers into the significant local landscape of the Winton Wetlands. Conveying a sense of immersion, the landscape is experienced as environment.

To create these new works, Dober places himself at ground level and applies the paint in a direct manner, and explains he does so in order to “not so much paint a view, as represent an environment. All that is around and before me — the detritus on the ground, weedy plants near and further away, foliage, water, living and dead trees, and an overarching sky, light and space — make their appearance in my work. Watercolour is a medium particularly well suited to describing a wetlands environment.”

The Winton Wetlands Reserve has 3800Ha of wetlands surrounded by 4,950Ha of red gum and box grassy woodlands, which includes 1850Ha of grazing land, and is the site of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest wetland restoration project, which seeks to renew the ecology and grow its natural, scientific, cultural and environmental significance.

Through his work, Mark Dober “conveys both the beauty of the Wetlands — even where so many dead trees are present — and the beauty inherent in the watercolour medium. Beauty delights us and it gives us hope. It can communicate a sense of gratitude and wonder, qualities all the more appreciated in our difficult times.”

Image: Mark DOBER Gully (Chewton), 2021, watercolour on paper 112 x 152 cm.