Additional Information

‘Day of the Fires’ by Tillian

“A memory of the 2019 wildfires at the Wingecarribee River, Berrima” Tillian

‘Day of the Fires’ is a work of searing intensity, merging abstraction and organic dynamism to evoke a landscape at the threshold of catastrophe and renewal. The vibrant use of color — reds, greens, ochres, and fractured blues — dramatizes a scene where flora, fire, and earth intertwine in a restless metamorphosis. Slashing verticals and jagged diagonals suggest both the destruction wrought by wildfire and the phoenix-like potential for rebirth inherent in nature’s cycles. This painting draws on traditions of Cubist fragmentation and Expressionist fervor while infusing the canvas with a uniquely mythopoetic energy. Rather than depict a literal scene, I offer a symbolic theater where elemental forces perform an eternal drama of loss and resilience. In the context of increasing ecological anxieties and climate extremities, ‘Day of the Fires’ stands as both a lament and a tribute — a visceral meditation on the fragility and strength of the living world.