MEET HAND SOLO.

CSS:    Hand Solo, thanks for your time.
HS:       Pleasure.
CSS:    First of all, it’s fairly clear that’s not your real name…
HS:      You’re quite right there. It’s a pen name, a pseudonym, a nom-de-plume. I ‘spose it could have been something different, say ‘Donald Twain’, or ‘Scott Neville’, or ‘Jazzy Jeff’ but I settled on ‘Hand Solo’, since I guess it fairly concisely describes what I do, toiling away in my lonely garret. So there you go.

CSS:    It does sound vaguely familiar. Are you not concerned with being taken seriously?
HS:       Deeply! But it’s too late for that. Hopefully, the work might be. I’m just here to knock it out and push it into the light.

ABOUT ‘FLIGHT’

CSS:    Well, what can you tell us about ‘Flight’.
HS:      There are nine acrylic paintings in total in this show, all of which orbit around a large scale four-panel picture, which was conceived of as a kind of dreamscape. With ‘Flight’ I aimed to capture  native birds with various aerial choreographies, passing over a landscape with an emphasis on kinetic movement, mood, and atmosphere. In ‘Moonshadow’s Dream’ there is an undercurrent of a narrative as flocks of native birds swirl above the head of a protagonist, in chaotic clusters, as they beat their escape from a bushfire.
CSS:    It’s certainly colourful…
HS:       Yes, I’ve tried to avoid the tendency for representing the bush with cobalt skies and dun coloured hills. Instead, I chose a palette of greys and other colourful tones which I could use as a thru-line to tie the show together and represent nature painting with a few fresh insights. Anyway, I hope people enjoy it. If they’re reading this, I guess there’s half a chance they might.

CSS:    Here, here. So enjoy your tour and stick with us, there’s plenty more to come…xo