WHEN a creative immerses themselves in their work for a lengthy period, it can be hard to step out of that realm and explain it to the outside world.
Visual artist Rory Dax Paton - who returned to his hometown three months ago after stints in London, Glasgow, Switzerland and most recently Melbourne, where he co-founded the iconic Wolfe Wolfe Gallery - is inviting the Perth public to view his debut solo exhibition, featuring more than 30 works of ink, watercolour, gouache, pastel, charcoal and pencil on paper.
Searching for ways to summarise the collection, the 30-year-old directed Community to his mentor and former lecturer of his fine arts course at WAAPA, Dr Christopher Crouch, now a professor at Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
“His paintings…are about the meaning of desire; a desire that encompasses the physical, emotional and intellectual, a desire that wracks the head and heart and is to do with longing and hoping,” Dr Crouch said.
After majoring in printmaking, Paton completed another degree in electronic arts at Curtin University, and went on to design and construct motion control camera equipment in animation, before pursuing ink painting.
“My most current work is much more coloured, expressionist and abstract, while my collection of work which has been built up over the last three of four years is more predominantly black and white, with a lot of references to Chinese and Japanese ink painting,” he said.
Shunning the art world as a student - “I didn't enjoy the vibe around that particular medium” - Paton is surprised by his own journey.
“When I stopped my animation work, I wanted to do something that wasn't reliant on a bunch of gear, so I started just drawing, which was really minimalist,” he said.
“It was quite a slow progression through drawing, then ink painting and then ultimately realising, 'oh, I am now a painter'”.
Citing Chinese artist Zao Wouki as a major influence, Paton is hopeful of securing a residency in China or Japan to further study, teach and “just be”.
Rory Dax Paton's debut solo exhibition is at Zekka, Perth, until December 21.
Emilia Vranjes