David Fairbairn’s studio is set in the bushland south west of Sydney on a property that he and his partner Suzanne Archer built from the ground up. When you see the contours of the trees and land that surrounds it, you understand the sympathy between his environment and his mark making.
There’s a strength in his line that echoes the dryness of the eucalyptus forests; his various portraits are linked by determined chiselled forms that echo the crags in the landscape.
There’s a real empathy in David’s portraits that speaks to his experience with the sitter – a process that can take months of careful observation, an intimacy that comes through in the vulnerability of his faces.
The video was shot and edited by Bruce Inglis, Syncpic.