Simon Grant
Australian artist
The Land | The Sea | The Sky
Simon is a Sydney based painter with a deep connection to the land and the sea. Simon's painting is inspired by the visual richness of the Australian and Oceania landscapes, and is expressed in a range of painting styles from post impressionism to abstract.
His paintings have been collected in Australia, the USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Russia, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, and South Korea.
Simon's paintings are sold only through this website and Instagram (sgrant.art).
Respect to the Guardians past and present of Dharug country on which I live.
I have a deep love of the bush, and the broader Australian landscape. My paintings are compelled by the beautiful yet unforgiving continent that is Australia. I am enchanted by the bushland particularly; the ancient earth and rocks, the harsh dry scrub, and standing sentinel over it all, the majestic eucalyptus trees.
Where the land meets the sea my youth growing up in the Pacific manifests itself in my paintings. The rhythm changes and my inner Gauguin comes alive.
I am a great admirer of the Korean Dansaekwha movement, and I am drawn to the Korean aesthetic.
JUST LISTED
"Half-life"
The legacy of nuclear testing in the Pacific.
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 50cm
$500 AUD
*unframed - canvas only
I paint to please myself first - hence I am not shackled to one genre or motif.
I am driven by the beauty or aesthetic of the subject I am painting. Composition, colour, light and tone are important and all need to come together. But the evocativeness of the work - how it makes the viewer feel and respond - must be above all else.
With few exceptions my paintings seldom finish up as originally planned. I work over and over canvases, trying to find my way. It is often when I have all but given up up that new possibilities will appear. I think this is so for all artists. Many of my paintings have multiple previous paintings beneath them, their skeletons lying obviously just beneath the surface.
My paintings are rough, sketchy, seemingly hurried and incomplete.
Unfinished.
That is my intention. My hope is that my paintings evoke a response that allows the observer to momentarily be elsewhere in their mind and their heart.
Abstract and the Korean aesthetic
Korean painting is deeply rooted in the philosophy of living in harmony with nature, and inherently tied to the human story. Korea has an ancient and spiritual history - pain, love, politics, nature - all is encompassed in Korean art.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Dansaekhwa art movement of the 1970s, and in the ceramics of the ancient Joseon dynasty.
Both have inspired my forays into abstract and still life painting.
“Simon, your wonderful painting arrived today. Of course, it’s even more astonishing in real life, and I will cherish it always.”
RB - Philadelphia, USA
Simon, the painting looks amazing. I am really happy with it. Thank you.”
DO - Ireland
“The photographs of the painting don’t begin to show how beautiful it is. It literally glows!”
Sam - Rockhampton, Australia
LM - Netherlands
“Hi Simon. Today I received your painting. What an absolutely stunning piece of art. I am really happy with it”
“Simon, I have received the painting. I love it! Thank you.”
