Field Notes: The Ruins of Ideas assembles a suite of works that are not ascribed as finished pronouncements, referencing instead ‘notes’ – observations made in passing, marks made from thinking, and noticing the relationships between ground and pigment. Paint here behaves like soil or sediment, layered and compressed and colour feels gathered rather than chosen. These works emerge from a place where ideas are not produced on demand, but weathered and wrought into being by time, labour, and repeated attention.

Bringing together painting and found objects as parallel modes of inquiry, the works operate as provisional records – concepts, materials, and gestures unfold through accumulation and revision. In this ongoing encounter, gestures remain visible and rather than arriving at fixed meanings, the works hold open a space in which perception can unfold over time.

Field Notes proposes the exhibition itself as a working field: a place where ideas remain open, contingent, and responsive to their context.

IMAGE: Michael Cusack, 'Swinburne', 2006, oil and graphite on canvas, 183 x 167 cm.
Donated by Michael Cusack to the University of Newcastle through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gift Program.