Accomplished artist Brittany March has received a Surf Coast Shire grant to explore new ground with her work. She spoke to Matt Hewson about her practice and love of the natural world.
Brittany March cannot remember a time when she wasn’t drawing and painting.
“It’s just the way I’m made; even if I was never getting paid a cent to make things, I would still have to make things,” she said.
“I can’t really recall a specific moment when I became interested, I was just never not interested in doing art.
“My fascination comes from, even when I was little, the natural world. I was fascinated with bugs and little critters and eventually as I got older, I became interested in other animals.
“Now I’m drawing a lot of marine life, but always wildlife, that’s my interest. I guess it’s just my way of honouring the natural world.”
Originally hailing from Adelaide and having studied visual communication at University of South Australia, Brittany is now based in Anglesea, combining a freelance visual and graphic design career with her pursuit of fine art.
Her work, mainly acrylic and oil paintings and pastel and charcoal drawings, focuses on hyperrealism and minute detail.
Now, thanks to Surf Coast Shire’s develop artist and creatives grants program, Brittany is looking to expand her practice into three-dimensional art, working with clay, silicone and fibreglass to create a prototype sculpture of a southern right whale about one metre in length.
“My long-term goal is to do public sculpture works, and something on a large scale would be really cool,” she said.
“So the grant is specifically to develop my skills in that. I’ll be doing training in fibreglass casting, and it helps me purchase the materials that I need for trial and error.”
Through the grant she will be mentored by acclaimed Jan Juc sculptor Mark Trinham, who has a 30-year history of environmental art and the construction and installation of public art projects.
“This project will deepen my creative practice by developing skills needed to transition into public sculpture,” Brittany said.
“The subject of the work is inspired by the Surf Coast’s rich marine environment and the iconic migration of the southern right whale.”
Since moving to the Surf Coast eight years ago Brittany has also taken up surfing, which has provided inspiration for her work.
“For me, surfing is something where you can find a bit of peace and be out in the elements,” she said.
“There’s obviously a lot of sea life that you interact with when you’re out in the water – seals, dolphins, whatever else – so that’s another source of inspiration for me.
“As a surfer as well going into the ocean most days you naturally have a connection with nature and wild places I guess, and I think it’s nice that the project involves the surf industry. Obviously Torquay was kind of born from the surf industry, so it’s a nice little nod.”
Having begun her project in May, Brittany will present the finished whale sculpture at Surf Coast Arts Trail in early August.
“This week I’m doing the silicon moulds of the sculpture, then next week I’ll be pouring and then some casting the following week,” she said.
“I started it basically as soon as I got the go-ahead with the grant. (The Shire) gives you a large window (to complete the project), but the Arts Trail is a really good opportunity for me to present my findings amongst peers and everyone who’s interested in art or the environment.
“So I had that in mind and then worked back from that date.”
Brittany said she has found the process of transitioning her ultra-detailed style from two dimensions to three-dimensional space both enjoyable and challenging.
“With my two-dimensional work I’m often working pretty close and really hyper-focused on areas of my canvas or page, whereas the sculpture work can be a little more messy,” she said.
“They’re both hands-on, but completely different. So I can bounce from a 2D thing, which is really refined and requires a lot of concentration, to the 3D stuff.
“It’s almost like a mental break, because it’s like play, really.
“But there are obviously times when I’m trying out new materials and things don’t go to plan. Working with silicon or fibreglass, if the temperature of the room is off that can stuff up what you’re working on.
“So that can be tricky, but that’s just the nature of doing something for the first time; it’s always going to be trial and error.”
While the move into sculpture is creatively driven, Brittany also weighed in the potential for opportunities to work when contemplating the new direction.
“Along the Surf Coast there aren’t many people at all working in large-scale public works, or even public works in general in 3D,” she said.
“We have a lot of muralists, a lot of people working in 2D, but I just identified a position in the market where people weren’t really going into that field.
“So that’s my long-term goal, once I’ve figured out my processes. Obviously there will be a few steps between, like getting commissions for smaller jobs before doing something massive.”
