Art and music have been constant companions throughout history. I was fortunate one year to have some members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform at the opening of my exhibition, ‘Wildlife’ in 2016. Positioned with their instruments in front of my painting Intermission that featured Frans Snyders’ Concert of Birds, 1629 was a really extraordinary moment in my career and highlighted to me the beautiful connection between art and music and how the two so effortlessly play off each other.

In the studio where the days can be long and run into the night, music can break the loud silence of your mind or dismiss the interminable chattering of your thoughts. Music can be the relief, the motivation and ultimately the inspiration.

In this painting the music of the Italian pianist and composer, Ludovico Einaudi has been all three and I’ve given the musical notes of Birdsong a starring role as a way to pay homage to the relationship between painting and music. This instrumental piece is track 5 from Day Two of Einaudi’s project Seven Days Walking which was released over various months in 2019.

I’m captivated by the process he undertook of walking through the Alps and creating a body of work that reflected different aspects of his journey. Along the way he also took polaroid photos to inspire him in the studio, connecting visual and aural.