With a natural interest in houses, Sydney-based artist Eliza Gosse started her education in architecture, but quickly discovered she had more of ‘an appreciation, than a knack for design’. Enrolling in a Bachelor of Fine Art at the National Art School, Eliza channeled her fascination for the homes of her childhood into her art practice, painting these mid-century homes that symbolised great growth and development in Australia, and reminded her of the typical suburban scenery she grew up with.
‘Mission brown and yellow brick set amongst gumtrees reminds me of my grandparents’ home in Gosford’ Eliza tells. That distinctly Australian sense of nostalgia is what the artist aims to capture in her work, ‘to feel the quietness of a childhood spent playing in a garden of Australian flora, with whip birds, and a parent watching on from a green garden chair’.
The 1950s and 60s was a time of great change and global innovation. The decades following the end of the second world war saw a creative boom, and a flux of European migration to countries like Australia and North America. This newly growing European population brought with it new architectural styles, as well as the need for more housing.
For her solo show Mission Brown at Saint Cloche Gallery, Eliza specifically turns her attention to the homes built from architect-designed blueprints and sold ‘off the rack’ across Australia and the US at this time, known as ‘project homes’.
‘By looking backwards and painting these homes across the two countries I want to undo the impersonal, unflattering suburban stereotype of today,’ Eliza says, ‘I want us to remember a generation of young architects and European migrants that breathed a spirit of invention into the suburbs.’
Mission Brown by Eliza Gosse
September 26th–October 7th
Opening Wednesday, September 26th by Tim Ross, 6pm-8pm
Saint Cloche
37 MacDonald Street
Paddington, NSW
