The sun-baked earth, cracked and worn, stretches out for miles under a relentless sky—pockmarked by dead stumps and odd rock formations. Gnarled trees stand sentinel, their twisted limbs reaching toward an infinite blue where clouds drift lazily, casting fleeting shadows over the arid soil. The distant horizon melts into soft, hazy purples, blurring the lines between earth and sky. Amid the parched expanse, life clings stubbornly. A tapestry of contradictions, the resilient flora—fields of wildflowers and spindly shrubs—etch their survival against the backdrop of ochre sands, roots digging deep into the dry ground.

As day surrenders to twilight and swallows whole the sun, we are offered a fleeting moment of reprieve. Fiery reds and oranges bleed into deep purples and indigos. Shadows stretch, contours sharpen, and pockets of life emerge like hidden treasures. Wildflowers splay in vibrant bursts—yellows and magentas splashed against the ochre canvas. It is a stark beauty that wraps itself around you like the heat of the day. The sky, now awash in hues of coral and lavender, gently cups the silhouettes of distant outcrops. Life flourishes in defiance of surrounding vastness.

This is the place Jun Chen allows us to visit from the safety and comfort of our world outside his canvas. His latest exhibition signals a profound shift in his engagement with the land. With a visceral intensity, he captures Australia’s most elemental aspects. The softness of florals, the twisted gums, the rugged portrayal of dense foliage each reveal the depth of Chen's artistic evolution. He echoes the long lineage of classic Australian landscape artists such as John Russell, Arthur Boyd and Arthur Streeton—yet infuses them with his own contemporary vision.

RED LAND is suggestive of Australia's iconic soil, but his works do not limit themselves to a single colour or motif. He presents the land not as static, but as alive and in constant flux. Balancing on the edge of survival and abundance, his paintings are a testament to the spirit of a country that is as unforgiving as it is breathtakingly alive.

His landscapes, dense with thickly applied oils, capture the rugged physicality of the land. He has mastered impasto to the point where paint seems to take on a sculptural quality. His depictions of hardy shrubs, spindly trees, and textured soil are imbued with intricate, layered details; resembling the very surfaces of the outback they depict. Flowers are not rendered with photographic precision but with sweeping, energetic strokes. He transforms their fragility into something colossal. The trees themselves are monuments to endurance. Their trunks and branches stand in stark contrast to the wild, tangled underbrush below.

RED LAND stands as a powerful homage to the enduring spirit of the Australian landscape. The pigmented earth, vivid and alive, pulses underfoot—a reminder of the deep ties to land that run through the very veins of the country. As we look on, the sky seems to hold its breath.

Anthea Mentzalis
September, 2024