Mystic Meander, Martin Browne Contemporary Sydney 2024
       
     
 Out Back 138 x 199 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Follow Forever 179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm) Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Hideaway 179 x 138 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Channeling 179 x 138 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Desert Sea 122 x 112 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Gateway 94 x 112 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Sky Road 112 x 94 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Double Lake Double Take 138 x 199 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Install view courtesy of Jessica Maurer and Martin Browne Contemporary
       
     
 So Inclined (detail) 138 x 199 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Out Back (detail) 138 x 199 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Follow Forever (detail) 179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm) Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Follow Forever (detail) 179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm) Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Hideaway (detail) 179 x 138 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Channeling (detail) 179 x 138 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Double Lake Double Take (detail) oil on Italian linen 138 x 199 cm
       
     
 Desert Sea (detail) 122 x 112 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Gateway (detail) 94 x 112 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
 Sky Road (detail) 112 x 94 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     
Mystic Meander, Martin Browne Contemporary Sydney 2024
       
     
Mystic Meander, Martin Browne Contemporary Sydney 2024

Kevin Chin’s paintings intersect inverted landscapes to advocate borderless new territories. His third solo exhibition at Martin Browne Contemporary, ‘Mystic Meander,’ questions if we can transcend worldly borders altogether.

Crossing continents, the new work evokes the sense of a parallel dimension. That magical feeling out in nature that a whole other world could be hiding between the crevices. The paintings act as portals, like in ‘Gateway’ passing between twin trees, or ‘Sky Road’ driving straight into the sky.

Carefully planted cultural references become slippery, taking us somewhere that is perpetually in between. Spring-time cherry blossoms in ‘Follow Forever’ shift through Winter snowscapes and Summer waterfalls.

The artist is influenced by contemporary magic realist literature, a genre which poetically creates worlds that resemble our own but are slightly awry, and uses this as a lens to step outside ourselves and re-examine the way things are. In ‘So Inclined,’ clothes hang across mountainscapes. In others, reflections turn the earth upside down.

Kevin explains, “I want to open a meditative space to channel the metaphysical.” One of the paintings is even titled, ‘Channeling.’ Here, land formations that channel water and steam also channel hidden forces. Kevin experiments widely with colour to express the wonder that connects us to deeper states of being.

This attention to colour gives the paintings their signature warmth. “The paintings are symptomatic of an unstable world, and my intention is to offer some comfort and respite.” Thus Kevin brings the homely with us when venturing into the wild. In ‘Out Back,’ rows of pumpkins recede into red dirt roads. A sense of security informs ‘Hideaway’ and ‘Double Lake,’ where remote shacks are protected by towering trees shimmering with colour.

These transcendent paintings offer differing perspectives giving us license to move more fluidly through the world. Here we find a safe space to meander, to unlock something mystic.

So Inclined
138 x 199 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Out Back 138 x 199 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Out Back
138 x 199 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Follow Forever 179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm) Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Follow Forever
179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm)
Oil on Italian linen

 Hideaway 179 x 138 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Hideaway
179 x 138 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Channeling 179 x 138 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Channeling
179 x 138 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Desert Sea 122 x 112 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Desert Sea
122 x 112 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Gateway 94 x 112 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Gateway
94 x 112 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Sky Road 112 x 94 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Sky Road
112 x 94 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Double Lake Double Take 138 x 199 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Double Lake Double Take
138 x 199 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Install view courtesy of Jessica Maurer and Martin Browne Contemporary
       
     

Install view courtesy of Jessica Maurer and Martin Browne Contemporary

 So Inclined (detail) 138 x 199 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

So Inclined (detail)
138 x 199 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Out Back (detail) 138 x 199 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Out Back (detail)
138 x 199 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Follow Forever (detail) 179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm) Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Follow Forever (detail)
179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm)
Oil on Italian linen

 Follow Forever (detail) 179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm) Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Follow Forever (detail)
179 x 286 cm (diptych, each panel 179 x 138 cm)
Oil on Italian linen

 Hideaway (detail) 179 x 138 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Hideaway (detail)
179 x 138 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Channeling (detail) 179 x 138 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Channeling (detail)
179 x 138 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Double Lake Double Take (detail) oil on Italian linen 138 x 199 cm
       
     

Double Lake Double Take (detail)
oil on Italian linen
138 x 199 cm

 Desert Sea (detail) 122 x 112 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Desert Sea (detail)
122 x 112 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Gateway (detail) 94 x 112 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Gateway (detail)
94 x 112 cm
Oil on Italian linen

 Sky Road (detail) 112 x 94 cm Oil on Italian linen
       
     

Sky Road (detail)
112 x 94 cm
Oil on Italian linen