David Collins - Sightlines: @ Wallarobba Arts & Cultural Centre, Hornsby

David Collins and the Spirit of the Hawkesbury River

The Hawkesbury River, with its winding waters, sandstone cliffs, and dense eucalyptus bushland, has long captured the imagination of Australian artists.

For David Collins, this iconic waterway is not merely a subject, but a living presence - one that breathes through every brushstroke and shadow in his work. Having lived on an island in the middle of the river for over 35 years, swimming in it and crossing it regularly, Collins is well equipped to draw on both the natural grandeur and quiet intimacy of the Hawkesbury.

There is a reverence in the way he paints the river. Rather than represent it in a literal or topographical sense, Collins explores its enduring presence and subtle drama. He distils its essence - light filtering through mangroves, weathered boats, timeworn jetties, and golden afternoon reflections dancing across tidal inlets.

Swathes of muted blues, ochre-rich earth tones, and deep greens fracture and flow across his canvases, echoing the river’s natural palette. These are not simply depictions of landscape, but meditations on how we internalise place - through memory, emotion, and atmosphere.

Plein air drawings serve as a starting point for his work, but once the painting process begins, it often takes on a life of its own, like water, moving far from its source. Working with fluid mediums, Collins thinly layers the paint, with each new layer responding to what came before. Beneath the final surface, one may find traces of multiple, seemingly unrelated paintings - glimpses of earlier marks that re-emerge and reveal themselves.

The artist’s unmistakable, languid line plays on the edge of abstraction, yet never loses touch with the power and presence of the landscape and this abstraction invites the viewer to engage with the river on a more instinctual level - connecting not just with its visual beauty, but with its underlying spirit - both serene and raw.

These paintings are not just landscapes, they are love letters to a place where land and water speak to one another, and to those who take the time to listen.

Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre
25 Edgeworth David Avenue
Hornsby
(Open Tuesday - Sunday, 10am-4pm)