Dane Lovett’s paintings are precisely crafted observations of familiar subject matter, ranging from domestic objects and everyday scenes to flowers and plants to popular culture. Echoing art historic traditions of still-life and landscape painting, his work goes beyond mere representation. Rather than focusing on what remains still and coherent, Lovett magnifies the dynamism hidden in slight moments.

Lovett’s image-based paintings are realised through techniques of mark-making, gesture and the presence of the hand. Built up over smooth, prepared surfaces, layers of brushwork shift between flatness and texture, holding tension between the image and the act of painting itself. The result is a painting that feels filtered and rendered, yet still carrying the tactile evidence of how it was made. His restrictive palette and experimentation with contrast enhance his distinct style, at times reducing colour to near absence and other times pushing contrast to its extremes. Depth in his work is fluid, some areas sharp while others dissolve into softness. Negative space is as integral as the subject matter itself, creating tension between what is seen and what is suggested. Balancing on the edge of recognition and distortion, Lovett stretches, compresses and warps delicate forms as he plays with scale, transforming a close-up into something vast or allowing a single detail to overtake the composition.

Dane Lovett has undertaken multiple residencies, including the DESA artist in residence, Bali, Indonesia (2023) and Australia Council Tokyo Studio Residency (2011). In 2019, Lovett was awarded the Victoria-Jiangsu Sister Province Arts Exchange, undertaking a residency at Points Centre for Contemporary Art (PCCA) in Jiangsu, China, which was the inspiration for his ongoing series of waterlily paintings. Dane was a finalist in the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize (2017). Dane Lovett’s work is held in the collections of Artbank, Australia; and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

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