Gene A鈥橦ern: Charged Memory
Simchowitz is pleased to present Charged Memory, Gene A鈥橦ern鈥檚 first solo exhibition at Hill House, Pasadena. Please join us for an open reception on Saturday, April 26th from 11am 鈥� 4pm 鈥� RSVP for address and parking information here.
In Charged Memory, Australian artist Gene A鈥橦ern explores the profound interplay between personal identity, lived experience, and place. This new body of work draws deeply from his lifelong connection to the Blue Mountains of New South Wales鈥攈is birthplace, which serves as a wellspring of reflection, and a source
of enduring spiritual resonance.
A鈥橦ern鈥檚 practice merges meditative reflection with instinctive, gestural mark-making, resulting in layered compositions that shift between contemplation and impulsiveness. Based in Katoomba, a town in the Blue Mountains region, he approaches art-making as a dialogue between internal experience and the surrounding environment. His visual language often incorporates organic symbolism first sketched in notebooks and evolves through varied materials鈥攐il, pastel, wool, ink, and monk鈥檚 cloth鈥攂uilding layers of form and texture over time.
The exhibition spans a wide range of works鈥攆rom the expansive, windswept energy of Sky Painting 42 (2023) to the dense, earthbound tactility of Canopy 6 (2025). In Flicker (2024), layers of distemper on linen evoke fleeting movement, while the twin works titled Cecil Road (2024) mirror one another as embodiments of landscape filtered through lived memory. Across the show, A鈥橦ern articulates a personal mythology shaped by the cyclical nature of existence鈥斺�渇rom dust and returning to dust.鈥�
A central thread in A鈥橦ern鈥檚 work is his intimate awareness of place. The Blue Mountains function not merely as a setting but as an active collaborator. Elements like shifting light, wind, and birdsong contribute to what he describes as the 鈥渃eremonial choreography鈥� of painting. His practice of 鈥渟kywatching鈥� becomes a quiet ritual, captured in works such as Sky Drawing 64 (2025) and Sky Painting 57 (2024), where expansive gestures convey both scale and emotional resonance.
A鈥橦ern鈥檚 work inhabits a liminal space鈥攂etween past and present, interior and exterior. Rather than seeking critique or resolution, he leans into this threshold. His material choices鈥攈essian, wool, distemper鈥攕peak to both raw immediacy and a connection to the elemental and handmade. The resulting pieces form an intuitive visual language of remembrance and transformation鈥攐ffering traces of where the artist has been, and glimpses of where he is headed.
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Simchowitz is pleased to present Charged Memory, Gene A鈥橦ern鈥檚 first solo exhibition at Hill House, Pasadena. Please join us for an open reception on Saturday, April 26th from 11am 鈥� 4pm 鈥� RSVP for address and parking information here.
In Charged Memory, Australian artist Gene A鈥橦ern explores the profound interplay between personal identity, lived experience, and place. This new body of work draws deeply from his lifelong connection to the Blue Mountains of New South Wales鈥攈is birthplace, which serves as a wellspring of reflection, and a source
of enduring spiritual resonance.
A鈥橦ern鈥檚 practice merges meditative reflection with instinctive, gestural mark-making, resulting in layered compositions that shift between contemplation and impulsiveness. Based in Katoomba, a town in the Blue Mountains region, he approaches art-making as a dialogue between internal experience and the surrounding environment. His visual language often incorporates organic symbolism first sketched in notebooks and evolves through varied materials鈥攐il, pastel, wool, ink, and monk鈥檚 cloth鈥攂uilding layers of form and texture over time.
The exhibition spans a wide range of works鈥攆rom the expansive, windswept energy of Sky Painting 42 (2023) to the dense, earthbound tactility of Canopy 6 (2025). In Flicker (2024), layers of distemper on linen evoke fleeting movement, while the twin works titled Cecil Road (2024) mirror one another as embodiments of landscape filtered through lived memory. Across the show, A鈥橦ern articulates a personal mythology shaped by the cyclical nature of existence鈥斺�渇rom dust and returning to dust.鈥�
A central thread in A鈥橦ern鈥檚 work is his intimate awareness of place. The Blue Mountains function not merely as a setting but as an active collaborator. Elements like shifting light, wind, and birdsong contribute to what he describes as the 鈥渃eremonial choreography鈥� of painting. His practice of 鈥渟kywatching鈥� becomes a quiet ritual, captured in works such as Sky Drawing 64 (2025) and Sky Painting 57 (2024), where expansive gestures convey both scale and emotional resonance.
A鈥橦ern鈥檚 work inhabits a liminal space鈥攂etween past and present, interior and exterior. Rather than seeking critique or resolution, he leans into this threshold. His material choices鈥攈essian, wool, distemper鈥攕peak to both raw immediacy and a connection to the elemental and handmade. The resulting pieces form an intuitive visual language of remembrance and transformation鈥攐ffering traces of where the artist has been, and glimpses of where he is headed.
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