Asphalt Panic – Rupert Travis

In Asphalt Panic Rupert Travis investigates the area between work and play or dreams and reality. The artworks are inspired by Travis’ personal memories of growing up in Ōtautahi, intertwined with his childhood daydreams while in the classroom – or on the asphalt – at school. Using the imaginative potential of childhood, he presents scenes of escapism and fantasy – running away to the circus or exploring invented landscapes.

Ambiguous in the sketch-like way they’re painted, the figures avoid definition, blurred and unrecognisable, like the remnants of a dream or memory. Travis invites us to place ourselves into these childhood visions and experience the mixed space of wonder, play, contemplation and inventiveness..

The painterly elements of the works are woven into the subject matter. With warm tones and textured brushstrokes, Travis mirrors the murky haze of daydreams. Deliberately naive, the works have a looseness, which reflects on the blended conflation of feelings – like a child grasping at a thought of potential dramatic futures.

Read more about this exhibition in our interview with Rupert Travis here.