Artist Luke Chiswell has exhibited in solo and group shows in Canberra many times. But his next show will be much further afield – in Chasm Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, from Friday.
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"I have been working on this show Touch Line on and off for the last three years and was waiting for the right space to show the work," Chiswell said.
"Last year the gallery approached me. I've had a couple of group shows in LA, London and a solo show [in New York] last year."
In Touch Line, he says, "The works themselves are large images printed on silk. They are images of intimate parts of the body that I have drawn on, then photographed."
He would draw on people and see how he had a different experience with each person.
"I found that the touch element to drawing interesting and wanted to push it further. I felt it would be more enhanced by drawing on more intimate parts of the bodies. I've made the works at a large scale that distracts you from the image and so that you can see the detail of where the ink bleeds and every little hair and mark in the image."
Chiswell grew up an hour out of Canberra and says he still loves the Australian bush.
"Having space is important to me. My studio is out there – it's always refreshing to go out there," he said.
Before he became an artist, his first love was skateboarding.
"I feel it gave me a way to approach ideas and projects."
He would imagine something he wanted to do, try it repeatedly, and make progress.
"I loved everything that came with skateboarding, shoes, garments, and boards, even the smell of new products. When I was 16 I started screen-printing my own T-shirts and clothes and learned how to make patterns for garments I wanted to create."
He studied visual art, fashion design and photography in Canberra and will be returning after the New York show for the Glint glass and print residency in August at the Canberra Glassworks and Megalo Print Studio and Gallery.
"I love Megalo and am excited to work with glass. It's a medium I've always been interested in and I am excited to have the chance to work with it and the people at The Glassworks."
He also has a solo show, Waiting Away, at Soju Girl until August 4.
The show opens on July 17 and is on until July 19.
