vernon treweeke says...

Vernon Treweeke’s personal and professional history - from his involvment in the art scene in London, the US and pioneering techniques in Australia in the 1960s, to working as a railway worker – has us captivated. Treweeke decision to distance himself from the art world in the 1970s, after making a name for himself internationally as something of a pioneer, shocked many. His artistic career could have taken a very different path, a path similar to that of his school friend and contemporary Brett Whiteley,  but the products of his career are of his own selection and making and, by his own account, he does not regret a thing. These days the now-heralded ‘father of psychodelic art’ lives a rather reclusive life in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. He's just recently decided to venture into the world of exhibiting once again. A retrospective collection of Treweeke's work, 1966 - today is currently on display at CarriageWorks, Sydney.

Covered: creating 3D art in 1966, using weed to get out of work, deciding not to become a millionaire, exhibition again after all these years and taking his retrospective cross country.

Sam Hartmann: You have a varied history genre wise, you seem to have tried many forms of painting and in the late 60’s you led the way in Australia for many contemporary artists in “new” genres. How would you classify yourself now?

Vernon Treweeke: Post modernists. I worked my way through from modernist to post modernist.

SH: I would like to read you a quote “In the '60s, Vernon Treweeke was a radical psychedelic artist whose work was bought by the National Gallery of Australia, but a decade later, this emerging artist vanished overnight to become a recluse.” Tell me a bit more about this time.

VT: I became disillusioned with the art scene. At the time legislation was passed that allowed art to become tax deductible. Wealthy people began to buy art to avoid paying tax. It didn’t sit well with me. I felt it was corrupt and didn’t want to be part of that so I decided to sell only to friends and people I knew who were not buying art for this reason.

SH: Do you have any regrets about the way your life differs from many of the artists you worked with in your earlier years?

VT: Yes. I have had to work for 28 years as a railway worker and they are millionaires! My wife thinks I was silly, she says we could have done with some of that money. Given the chance I would have done the same again. I’m an idealist.

SH: Tell me about your work for State Rail and the murals you have painted in the Blue Mountains.

VT: It wasn’t until my last year working on the railway that I became a full time artist for them. I spent years trying to make it happen. I had to manipulate it myself. Originally I was working in standard positions, like a ticket inspector. I asked my stationmaster if I could paint murals and he said no so I decided to make it hard for him. I said I used marijuana so they could not use me as a normal employee due to health and safety.  However, they could not sack me either so I became a useless employee. Finally he agreed to let me paint the murals. Another artist, April from Springwood, saw the possibility for a railway artist so presented to the Railway Corp. Painting murals using graffiti-resistant paint was cheaper for them than constantly paying to clean the graffiti… It’s fantastic for her, it was what I was trying to achieve all along!

SH: Tell me about your exhibition at CarriageWorks. I am interested in learning about some of the 3D techniques you have used through the years that are evident in the works currently on display there.

VT: I was searching for a way to make 3D art. I started doing work with ultraviolet light in 1966 but it wasn’t until my youngest son, then ten, came in with 3D glasses from a pack of new Crayola markers. They were called Jumping Colours. He showed them to me, we looked at my paintings and they were all 3D. I went out and bought as many boxes as I could to get [so I could have] the glasses as it was the only way at the time that I could get my hands on them. There was not as much recognition for 3D art as I thought there would be. I thought more artists would follow. As it is, art is an adventure and I am an explorer.

SH: Are you enjoying exhibiting again?

VT: I feel like I have been liberated. I am hoping to exhibit a lot more; specifically I would like this current exhibition to travel over Australia.

SH: How do you sell your works?

VT: At the moment I don’t. I want to keep this collection together so that I can take it around and show it. I create my pieces so I can share them so I prefer to exhibit in spaces that do not push the sale. Plus I have started to move into computer-generated works. Mother Universe 2010 was my first attempt at this and I really enjoyed creating work this way. It’s so much faster and there are so many more possibilities. I don’t even know how you would sell this type of art.

SH: I noticed there was one piece in the collection, Procreation: Creations Create Creations 1982, created using pencils. Why didn’t you do more?

VT: I found one box of Scandinavian 3D pencils and used the entire box to create this work and have never been able to find another box of 3D pencils.

SH: Your piece, Spirit of the Great Southern Land 2005, is fantastic, the bird moves with you. How did you achieve this?

VT: It’s due to the stark contrast in colours. I would like to do more of this and develop the technique further.

vernon treweeke, carriage works, 3D art, psychodelic art