Patrick Shirvington’s work investigates his relationship to the natural world through drawing, believing the practice of drawing is fundamental to the cognitive process and to opening doors to the unseen.
I don’t look for practical realities, but rather allow the unseen to present itself spatially, displaying its own authenticity as a poignant delineated form. Then and only then can it be seen in light of reality.
We tend to look at the object, however, do we see the subject?
Are we truly conscious of all that is around us as separate entities that come together to become one? Awareness of our environs involves cognition, in other words, seeing and taking notice of the things that are around us.
I tell my story with mythical symbols, whether from the brush on a large canvas to the more intimate illustrations in children’s books, I feel the unknown is more important than the known, as it awakens our dreams and intuition.
Through our dreams we delve deeper than the mere surface.
My artmaking looks at the natural world surrounding us, firstly bringing our attention to the picture surface, followed by a deeper revelation.
Patrick Shirvington is an accomplished children’s book illustrator,. He has a Master of Cross Disciplinary Art and Design UNSW MCDArtDes. His picture book, Can You find Me ?, written by Dr Gordon Winch, was shortlisted for the Wilderness Society Environment Award for Picture Books (Australia), a CBCA Notable book, with Patrick being nominated for the Crichton award for illustration. Patrick’s books have now been published worldwide, including translation into Chinese. With his fifth book Three Dancing Frogs being released November 2020.
Patrick Shirvington started his journey as an artist in 1975, when he began painting full time. In the following two years, he travelled through Europe and USA and participated in drawing class at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, Paris. He completed his Masters of Cross Disciplinary Art & Design at University of NSW in 2015. Patrick Shirvington has been a finalist in the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing in 2011, 2012, 2019, 2020 Kedumba Drawing Award in 2003, 2006 & 2009, Paddington Art Prize 2018. NSW Parliament Plein Air Prize KAAF 1017, 2019 and he was also a finalist in the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW in 1999 as well as numerous other art prizes. His work is in the collection of Edogowa Museum, Osaka, Japan, Kedumba Drawing Collection, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Macquarie University, Arthur Boyd Bundanon Collection, Adelaide Perry Gallery Collection, Australian Stock Exchange as well as various corporate and private collection.
Patrick has been invited to present papers pertaining to drawing and cognition at conferences such as aaee Australian Association of Environmental Education, Queensland College of Art - Drawing International Brisbane (dib) Symposium 2015, EcoArts Australis, 2013, 2015, 2017,2019 including ongoing environmental education programs with local government.
Responding to seasonal changes in the landscape. Patrick Shirvington’s studies of the local environs, with intensified frenzy, pushes the markings, scribbles and scratches of the tree to the surface ground that emulates the feel and smell of the bush.
Rhonda Davis – ‘Arboreal’, Macquarie University Art Gallery.
Patrick Shirvington’s interest is predominantly with nature and the environment. Being loyal to the landscape, he is always moving into new territories.
Kath von Witt – Hawkesbury Regional Gallery.
Shirvington’s animals, real and imaginary, are rendered with much attention to detail and personality. They are not props. They are there to say something larger and to be characters in his new drawing tale. Plucked from the past and perhaps existing in his dreams, they are thrust into the present with selfless devotion.
Joseph Eisenberg OAM Emeritus Cultural Director Maitland Regional Art Gallery
Shirvington is poetic and whimsical, Shirvington’s facility for witty and charming drawings brings many such vignettes to life.
Dr Christopher Allen National art critic for The Australian