Roland Weight
Q. What was your path to becoming an artist?
A. Being called an artist is one of the consequences of
making things. For me it is normal, I appreciate reality
and attempt to create things that communicate that
complex appreciation.
Q. How would you describe your style?
A. Sometimes I say I don’t have a style although this is
not strictly true. Much of my art can be recognised by people who are familiar with it.
Q. You explore so many mediums – from painting to sculpture to collage. What guides your choice of what
to create next?
A. I have varied interests in general and the variety of my
artwork reflects that. I reject the notion that an artist should stick to one mode to become known. That would limit my creative freedom which is what guides my activity.
Q. How does your environment, like the Barossa, affect
the way you make art?
A. I live in the Barossa Valley and have moved around a
fair bit. I have lived in NSW and QLD as well as other parts of SA.
I have noted the influence of the landscape and environment on my work but the changes are also marked by time and other factors making it difficult to isolate the extent of influence.
Q. What do you enjoy most about working outside, painting plein air landscapes?
A. I have been doing outdoor paintings in the Barossa in the last few years particularly the autumn vines. Painting from life out side in particular is exciting and refreshing because it engages all the senses and is very demanding on colour and shape perception.
Q. What interests you about how light reflects off
things in your paintings?
A. The interesting thing about light for me is the
strange true nature of reflection which doesn’t actually happen because each photon is eliminated when it hits
a surface and a new one is given off at an angle
determined by quantum probability.
This angle approximates the angle of reflection in
classical physics but is not as fixed. I get inspiration
from this appreciation of light especially when painting
still life subjects.
Q. What’s the biggest difference for you between making
a painting and making a sculpture?
A. The biggest difference between making a painting or
a sculpture is the stuff. The material in my view must be allowed to show its own character in an artwork and the artist needs to have the confidence to not inhibit that.
Q. Which artists have inspired you over the years?
A. Artists who have inspired me include Rembrandt, Velázquez, Goya, Van Gogh, David Smith, Anthony Caro, among many others.
