Nathan Modra, Untitled, 2019, recycled and welded found objects, 31 x 25 x 10cm. Photo Michelle Dohnt
The gallery is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click here to view a virtual tour of Beyond the Horizon.
PRESENTED BY RURAL CITY MURRAY BRIDGE ARTS DEVELOPMENT
AS PART OF 2020 MURRAY BRIDGE FRINGE!!!
Nathan Modra’s emerging art practice grapples with the challenges of lived experiences, in search of new ways to view life’s complexities and find harmony.
Beyond the Horizon is Nathan’s first solo gallery exhibition and features vibrant, emotive paintings, as well as sculptures fashioned from farmland scrap metal and tools.
Nathan’s work reflects his concerns for the environment and humanity. Some give form to the struggle of dark and difficult moments with raw honesty; while others carry a sense of whimsy and a healthy dose of humour. Above all, they speak of resilience and compassion.
Works are modestly priced, as Nathan is keen to raise funds to be able to dive into making more!
Beyond the Horizon is dedicated to the artist’s grandfather Rex and father Malcolm, who began and nurtured the family’s Rockleigh farming legacy.
Nathan Modra, Lost Souls III, 2018, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 75 x 99.5 cm. Photo: Michelle Dohnt.
With a Certificate 2 in metal fabrication and welding under his belt, in 2016 Nathan began to see discarded farm machinery, tools and materials in a new light and embarked on giving them a second life as sculptures. Having always enjoyed drawing since childhood, in 2017 he began applying his imagination to canvas with paintings. In the 2018 Rotary Youth Art Prize at Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, he won the People’s Choice Award for his sculpture I’m Steel Standing, and the 16-18 year old category for his painting Lost Souls - an early work in a series that continues in this exhibition, and which refers to the foibles of society’s ‘screen addiction’ the growing tendency of many to lose themselves in the world of social media, running the risk of losing their individuality.
Nathan Modra, Eyes in the Universe, 2019, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 75 x 99.5 cm. Photo: Michelle Dohnt
Paintings like Eyes in the Universe and World, ponder big questions concerning our future and our understanding of the world; the knowledge that there are so many unknowns about the universe and, as Nathan say: “there’s more out there that what we can see”.
Fight to the End is one of Nathan’s earliest paintings. It reflects the experience of surviving two regional fires in 2013 and 2014; since then Nathan’s family, together with Trees for Life, planted over 300 trees to regenerate their environment and because “you need trees to be able to make rain”, as Nathan’s mother Elaine points out.
His ambitious sculpture Emptiness gives form to the psychological anguish of losing someone very close and significant in your life; its amethyst eye representing precious times spent, and the empty eye socket is the void left behind.
Showing a shift in his use of colour, Nathan’s most recent paintings, Infectious Universe and Questioning, highlight how diverse we all are, and show a range of emotions from rage to happiness.
