John Gould

Pacific Navigators

Homestead Gallery

15 November - 17 December, 2023

Pacific Navigators is a series of painted multi-media 3Dx2D constructions on canvas inspired by the vessels and stick charts used by traditional Pacific navigators to sail routes between the Pacific islands.

Living in PNG from 2010-12, John became fascinated by the range of traditional vessels still used for festivals and everyday travel around PNG’s coastal and island regions. He also learnt about the stick charts made and used by Polynesian and Micronesian navigators to identify currents and wave patterns around islands and atolls. Sticks were used to show potential routes, but the form and interpretation of the charts were not fixed and their exact meaning was known only to the makers.

This left John free to experiment with structure, design, colour and form, paying homage to the remarkable skills of the Pacific boatmakers and navigators.

Official opening

5pm Wednesday 15 November by Stephanie Copus Campbell AM, Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality (DFAT), former Head of Development Cooperation Program PNG (AusAID), Former Head of Pacific Group (AusAID) & Former Head of Development Cooperation Fiji and Tuvalu (AusAID).

About the artist

John Gould is a painter, sculptor and teacher.  A graduate in sculpture from the Canberra School of Art and City Art Institute in Sydney, John has had 15 major exhibitions of his sculptures and paintings including at the Irving Sculpture Gallery (Sydney), Solander Gallery (Canberra), University of New England (Armidale, NSW), Gallery Delta (Zimbabwe), Australian Embassy Beijing, and Australian High Commission Port Moresby. He has taught painting and sculpture with NSW TAFE over a number of years in Wollongong, Armidale, Goulburn and Queanbeyan and with CIT Solutions in Canberra, between periods living overseas. 

johngouldartist.com