Brett Mallon

Born Australia. Lives Canada.

‘Where we met as one’ is a documentation of my attempt to build a meaningful relationship with the landscape in which I live. At the beginning of 2020 I moved from Melbourne Australia to a small town called Revelstoke in the interior of British Columbia, Canada.

“Back home” I walked, climbed, camped, ran, laughed, and cried in the Australian landscape, but in this new landscape, I had no history, no landmarks, no orientation.

What instantly stood out to me was the lack of connection I felt for the landscape. I felt separated and isolated from the land I was interacting with and quickly realized the importance of lived experience in relation to feeling at home in the landscape.

In order to build some sense of “home” I began to paint. To me, Painting en Plein Air seemed to be the best way to enjoy, spend time with, and converse with the landscape, so that is what I did.

I spent my days walking through the woods exploring painting spots, thinking, looking and sensing.

Slowly I began to build a relationship with the area. I learnt the colours of the mountains in the morning, the feeling of snow crunch under my feet, the haze of the summer sky, that the trees here are terribly straight and the birds are small and quiet.