Al Poulet’s work evokes the visual density and complexity of the Australian bush yet stimulates our imagination to viscerally experience pushing through branches and treading on land, or hearing birds and crashing ocean waves. These sensations are infused into the artist’s new paintings, which are inspired by landscapes in NSW, near the artist’s studio at Wedderburn and remote beaches further south on the NSW coast. 

“I need the wilderness in order to paint; it gives me room, it gives me inspiration, and it gives me air,” he reflects. “It’s about going and watching the birds move through the forest.” He finds analogy for the process of making art in the act of surfing.“ As soon as you step off the sand and you are away, and there is no one else in the world,” he says. “And if it is massive surf and you almost die, it’s even better.”

Al Poulet is a graduate of UNSW Art and Design (achieving First Class Honours) and a recent recipient of the Paddington Art Prize. His work was presented at Sydney Contemporary International Art Fair in 2019, and subsequently exhibited in the joint exhibition, Cummings and Poulet, at Penrith Regional Gallery in 2021. The artist has been listed in Artwatch as one of Australia’s top 100 artist’s to collect in 2023.