Peter Hudson

Stepping into Peter Hudson: The mystery of being here, you are surrounded by the gods and giants that Peter Hudson has honoured with his landscapes and portraits, for some three decades.

For his recent exhibition, Peter Hudson: The mystery of being here, the University of the Sunshine Coast Art Gallery has assembled fifty paintings and drawings showing Hudson’s creative contemplations. It is a collection that offers insight into the artist giving thought to spiritual mysteries and his awe and fascination for the natural world.

The mystery of being here is the largest survey of the Sunshine Coast–based artist. Curated by Megan Williams, Manager, University of the Sunshine Coast Art Gallery, the exhibition is accompanied by a monograph on Hudson’s work, with contributions from Christine Toussainte Morrow, Carol Schwarzman, Jeff McMullen, Charlie Ward, and Kev Carmody. Together, the publication and exhibition represent a significant body of artworks from an artist of local and national importance. 

Three years in the planning, the exhibition was part of the Horizon Festival, a multi-arts festival that celebrates the natural landscape of the Sunshine Coast region, honouring the stories and art of Kabi Kabi and Jinibara peoples and providing a platform for artists. The spectacular landscapes of the Sunshine Coast, and in particular the Glass House Mountains, have featured prominently in Hudson’s art. 

During an in-gallery event, Hudson spoke to Williams about his early years and the influences on his ideas of the land. In his first ten years, his family lived in Townsville and Longreach. His father worked for the Department of Civil Aviation and the family lived close to the small country airports. Hudson reflected that “as aerodromes are built on the outskirts of town, as kids we had full access to the bush and I loved being out there.” Later, the family moved to Brisbane and Hudson cited the impact of seeing the Glass House Mountains from the car, on holiday trips to the beach, and from the window of the “Sunlander,” during rail trips to his nana’s for Christmas at Home Hill, North Queensland. “It was the beginning of my long relationship with the land,” he said, and “even then I started to notice how it made me feel.”

Of interest, other Queensland artists, such as painter Ian Smith and photographer Glen O’Malley, talk of their early journeys on the Sunlander and how it shaped their relationship and view of the land.

In his early career, Hudson studied illustration and design, and for a short time worked as an illustrator. In 1976 he began a jewellery apprenticeship, and around the same time started drawing and painting landscapes. 

Hudson was so taken by the Glass House Mountains that for several years he and his wife lived at the base of Mount Coonowrin. In the 1990s they moved nearby to Maleny, and Hudson committed his time to his art and began making plein-air paintings of the hinterland country, including the Glass House Mountains. Like many, Hudson believes that these mountains have a “powerful spirit” and he said of that time, “I had the feeling they had something for me.”

In searching for career reassurance and connection, Hudson made contact with artist Lawrence Daws, who lived close by. Hudson describes Daws as a “giant,” someone who was generous with his time, and who influenced him greatly. Hudson said of his visits to the Dawses’ legendary Owl Creek Farm, “It gave me the lifeblood and oxygen for my art-life.”

As with Daws, the Glass House Mountains became a prop or device for Hudson’s contemplation of the natural world and metaphorical paradigms, and the exhibition includes several large paintings that feature Coonowrin. With Mountain and Fish, 2012, and The Passage, 2019, Hudson strives to capture the age and “memory” of the mountain, accentuating its strange shape and ruggedness. Hudson splits the canvas in two with the mountain in the upper half and a fish and stingray in the lower halves. With the two parts, Hudson is giving thought to the land and communicating the interconnectedness of natural systems.

The split canvas is a common design in Hudson’s work and a feature of his Fish Moon Relationship series, examples of which are included. In a talk in 2010 as part of his Sunshine Coast Art Prize residency, Hudson spoke about the series and of the power of the moon, and his belief that “in the psyche of sea creatures the moon must be a god.” Of these paintings, Hudson seeks to infuse them with this thought and express the absolute miracle of the moon. He says that the moon provides us with a “sense of scale, and helps us figure out how small we are.” 

For Hudson, an understanding of our relationship with the natural and spiritual grew with his many visits to Aboriginal communities of Daguragu and Kalkarindji in Gurindji Country, Northern Territory, which began in 1998. The Gurindji people, their land, and the story of the Wave Hill walk-off became a major influence on Hudson’s work. It transformed his understanding of the powerful union Aboriginal people have with the land and inspired him to make portraits.

Hudson’s portraiture is some of his most celebrated work and it is a credit to Williams and the regional, state, and national collecting institutions that have enabled such a strong representation for the survey. Sitting in the gallery space dedicated to the portraits, among the large paintings of Paul Kelly, Archie Roach, Kev Carmody, Shane Howard, and others, Hudson refers to these people as “giants.” They are artists who are significant storytellers who have come into his life through music (Hudson is a drummer) and who have a common, deep connection to the country. Of the portraits, Hudson said that “they did not come easy,” however he was driven to “get them right” and honour these people, their art, and their influence.

For Hudson, with his commitment to plein-air painting and large portraiture, it would seem the more uncomfortable the conditions, the better the painting. The raw landscapes of the Daguragu and Gurindji Country are a testament to that. He describes the act of painting as a “beautiful battle” and says that at seventy-two he is “still trying to work things out.”

In 2015, in a catalogue published by Harvey Galleries for the exhibition titled Life is No Way to Treat an Animal, Hudson wrote, “No matter how violently we shake [the landscape], we will never dislodge the memory, the secrets, and deep mystery. The land wisely keeps these close to her chest.” 

Hudson acknowledges that the mystery is safe and that his work to honour his heroes, those gods and giants, continues.   

This article was originally published in Artist Profile, Issue 61, 2022.
Images courtesy the artist, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane, and University of the Sunshine Coast Art Gallery, Queensland.

EXHIBITION
Peter Hudson: The mystery of being here
19 August – 29 October 2022
University of the Sunshine Coast Art Gallery, Queensland