Opening on June 5: Malcolm Harding, Ways of Seeing

Malcolm Harding, Sentinel, Nobbys Beach. Oil on canvas, 71 × 71cm. Available: $1250

In his new exhibition, local artist Malcolm Harding explores the Port Macquarie coastline and its distinctive rock formations. Nobbys Beach is a favourite because of its unique headland and that lone tree surviving on the rocks.

The paintings recognisably belong to the landscape genre but like any painting they  construct ways of seeing. Colours are changed, elements are added and deleted.

“The paintings are based on photographs of the natural environment,” Malcolm says. “All are closeups and show fragments of a bigger picture. Earlier landscapes depicted my cold-climate garden in Blackheath, focussing on the riot of colours, textures and dense profusion of its native and exotic plants. The more recent beachscapes celebrate the Mid North Coast, particularly Nobbys Beach, Miners Beach and Shelley Beach.”

Malcolm Harding has been painting for more than 40 years. He lives and works in Port Macquarie, NSW.

His previous exhibition at Luminance explored similarities between scientific representation of the natural world and artistic abstraction.

His work is in collections across Australia and internationally.

Ways of Seeing
Until 30 June 2025
Luminance Gallery