The timed auction ends Thursday April 16th at 8:00pm. Whoever holds the highest bid at the auction closing time wins.
Kirsten Hocking
Dry, 2023
Oil paint on Belgian linen
Height 61 cm x Width 61 cm
Artwork is unframed and ready to hang & comes with a certificate of authenticity
Starting Bid: $1,200
“Dry” was created during a time when communities across Australia were grappling with both devastating fires and widespread flooding. The underpainting is layered with vibrant reds—evocative of fire—and overlaid with drips and splashes of deep blue-green, suggesting flowing water. Much of this dynamic groundwork is deliberately obscured, reflecting how environmental crises are often concealed or downplayed in political discourse and media coverage.
The dry macadamia leaves and wheat sheaf allude to agriculture and drought, while the handcrafted plate—made by a potter friend using wild-harvested clay from local hills—grounds the work in personal connection and place.
This painting is thought provoking and a powerful conversation starter! There’s a rich contrast between the finely rendered realism of the botanical elements and the expressive, abstract marks beneath. The warm palette and soft shadows lend a quiet beauty, inviting viewers to linger. With each viewing, new details and meanings emerge.
Artist Bio: Kirsten Hocking is a West Australian artist who paints still lifes and landscapes in a layered, figurative style. Her work is shaped by a deep love and reverence for the natural world, with painting becoming a way to be fully present with the plants and animals around her. She draws inspiration from the interplay of light and shadow and from the keenly observed forms of her subjects, building her oil paintings through translucent layers to create vibrant textures and finely resolved detail.
Alongside her full-time art practice, Hocking teaches adult painting classes. Her award-winning work reflects a sustained commitment to presence, inquiry, and learning from the environment she inhabits, inviting viewers into a quiet, attentive relationship with the living world.