Locally created landscape paintings can be spotted in the new Tasmania-based crime series The Gloaming, now streaming on Stan.
The painter is Adrian Bradbury, a Master of Fine Arts student at the University of Tasmania’s School of Creative Arts and Media.
Screen Australia hired 5 of Adrian’s paintings to decorate the homes of The Gloaming’s main characters Gareth, Molly and Ben.
Adrian, who paints outside ‘en plein air’ said the paintings offer a connection to Tasmania’s wild places and our interactions with them.
“The paintings selected for The Gloaming have that moody feel that is typical of landscapes in lutruwita/Tasmania,” he said.
“My Tasmanian paintings focus on the lichen, boulders and track signs in the Lost World bushwalk on kunanyi/Mount Wellington. It is a rich space for generating artworks. These tracks are a junction where humans and nature intertwine.”
Originally from Melbourne, Adrian’s fascination with the Tasmanian bush began with a rock climbing and hiking trip in 2005.
“I was fascinated by the unique rock and bush of lutruwita. I had bushwalked in Victoria from a young age but had never seen anything like the old forests here,” he said.
“The tall columns of dolerite rock around coastal cliffs and on mountain tops provide unreal climbing experiences.
“I also hiked through spectacular old-growth forests, which are incredible places that hold tremendous ecological value, and offer experiences of a deepening sense of time to a receptive walker.”
During Adrian’s first Tasmanian summer he learned about the logging of these old-growth forests in the Upper Florentine Valley.
“I was compelled to protect the old native trees, so I helped set up tree sits with fellow climbers at the blockade known as Camp Florentine.”
Adrian returned to Tasmania most summers to paint, hike and climb. In 2014 he moved permanently to Hobart and later took up postgraduate painting studies at the University of Tasmania.
While living in Hobart he has built bushwalking and mountain biking trails on kunanyi and other state parks for local trail building companies.
“This track building work has deepened my sense of connection with place here in Tasmania and has provided a rich source of inspiration for my artworks.”
