Density
This body of work spans two years of my practice and reflects a period of personal and artistic transition, including a significant relocation to Germany. These lifestyle changes have deeply informed my process, grounding my work as a space of response, reflection, and reinvention.
At the core of my practice lies an exploration of the interplay between architectural and natural decay. I am drawn to the narratives embedded in deteriorating structures and forgotten landscapes, spaces that hold history, memory, and emotion. I incorporate elements of graffiti and industrial aesthetics to evoke themes of time, erosion, and erasure, using them as visual metaphors for psychological states and the passage of experience.
My work investigates how environments, particularly those in flux or disrepair,elicit psychological responses. I am fascinated by the latent stories hidden within ordinary or abandoned spaces, and how architecture can serve as a silent witness to human presence and absence. Through painting, I unravel these connections, exploring the emotional charge of place. The act of painting itself is physical and instinctive. I seek a balance between spontaneity and control, using kinetic gestures and deliberate mark-making to construct each layer. My compositions often reference anthropomorphic forms or fragmented landscapes, suspended within abstract frameworks. Painted in a high chromatic key, the layered surfaces undergo dramatic visual shifts, echoing a constant tension between fluidity and structure. There is always a push and pull in the work, working toward and against something, allowing for accidents, risking failure in pursuit of something unfamiliar. The ideas of undoing and unmaking have become central to my process. I believe a painting must surprise me first; it has to evolve beyond my expectations. That moment of uncertainty, where something unexpected emerges, is where the work comes alive for me, and hopefully for the viewer.
Elliot Watson, 2025
Elliot Watson is a contemporary artist living and working on Mulubinba Country (Newcastle), New South Wales. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National Art School, completed in 2020, following an Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts from Newcastle Art School. His practice is informed by a strong foundation in traditional techniques and a growing interest in conceptual and experimental approaches.
Elliot has participated in an international artist residency in France, which contributed to the development of his distinctive visual language and deepened his engagement with cross-cultural artistic dialogues. Over the years, he has exhibited in a number of group and solo exhibitions across Sydney and the Hunter Region, steadily building a presence within the Australian contemporary art landscape.
Elliot Watson
Lives and works in Newcastle
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts, National Art School, Sydney
Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts, Hunter TAFE, Newcastle
Diploma of Fine Arts, Hunter TAFE, Newcastle
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Density, Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane
2021 Part 2, DuckRabbit Gallery, Sydney
To the one who remains, DuckRabbit Gallery, Sydney
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 All In, Saint Cloche Gallery, Sydney
Collect, The Lock-Up, Sydney
TDF COLLECT, The Design Files Gallery, Melbourne
Best Life, Saint Cloche Gallery, Sydney
2022 There Here, DuckRabbit Gallery, Sydney
Omnivours, DuckRabbit Gallery, Sydney
Scattered, Krool Jeweller, Sydney
2019 Landscape, National Art School, Sydney
AWARDS, RESIDENCIES, AND PRIZES
2022 Finalist, The Creator Incubator Artist Residency, Newcastle
Finalist, Brenda Clouten Memorial Scholarship, Maitland Regional Gallery
2021 Highly Commended, The Gallerist Emerging Artist Prize, Sydney
2019 Winner, International Residency, Chateau Orquevaux, France
Finalist, Lloyd Rees National Emerging Artist Prize, Lane Cove, Sydney
2018 Finalist, Brenda Clouten Memorial Youth Scholarship, Maitland Regional Gallery Finalist, Newcastle Emerging Artist Prize, Newcastle
