MUNTHE ART MONDAY: AMY WRIGHT

Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.

I am an Australian painter, working primarily in acrylic and traditional drawing mediums; charcoal, pastel and graphite. My painting methodology is reminiscent to that of collage, where the whole is made up of cropped fragments, where I play with the idea of hiding and revealing. Pattern, texture and colour are core to my practice and are used to create a sensory narrative of the landscape. I paint from my garden studio in a semi rural township, Ceres, near to the Victorian coast line. The Great Ocean Road is on my doorstep.

My primary subject matter is Landscape with botanical motifs presented through an abstracted lens. I am most interested in capturing abandoned landscapes; the discarded, ignored and untamed. The types of landscapes where nature has been left to reclaim the land or left to grow unchecked. I am not a slavish realist, rather I create worlds that morph reality with imagination; plants are depicted wildly and landscapes are tiered and towering with often obscured horizon lines.

Amy is wearing Lupon pants and Lucuma shirt.

Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?

Maja Ruznic @majaruz. Every image she creates reverberates with an energy of a ‘birth’; an experience or a feeling.

Natalie Martin @Natalie_martin an Australian watercolourist, whose work shows incredible skill. She has moved this very traditional practice into a very authentic contemporary space, with thrumming energy and a wonderful use of colour.

Lucy Hersey @lucehersey - a landscape painter truly of the land she lives on. She is an earth pigment painter and I am thrilled by her resolve to create work so at one with the landscape.

I would also say my dear friend and neighbour Penny @pennysartspace who lives up the laneway! She is a great talent and through years of motherhood (four young children!) she has forged a space for her art making amidst the chaos and I am so very proud of her for this. She is working to create her best life for her and her family.

Writers, the likes of Sylvia Plath, Mary Oliver, Margaret Atwood, Virginia Wolfe. I am inspired by their prose; being inspired by words over visuals. I find words are more effective for conjuring an image in my mind. I feel this helps to keep my visual language my own.

Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?

As a woman in male-dominated industries, I’ve often felt pressure to perform — though I’m not sure whether that drive comes from my gender or my upbringing. We moved frequently during my formative years, and I learned to constantly adapt and set high expectations for myself and those around me. I’ve always been ambitious and conscientious, often unconsciously seeking out challenging roles.

My gender hasn't defined my career — my ambition has.

Motherhood became a catalyst for my creative growth. During pregnancy, I was forced to reassess how my artistic life could coexist with parenting. While I was grateful to stay home, my creative output actually increased. I structured my work around motherhood, establishing a garden studio to support both roles. I resisted the expectation that mothering should eclipse my creative identity.

I’ve always aspired to be a full-time artist, to live from my work. As my daughter grows, I want her to witness both the effort and the joy of my practice — to know that with dedication and work ethic, she can achieve whatever she sets her mind to.

I’ve learned that my sense of worth shapes my sense of wealth.

What would you like people to notice in your artwork?

My work reflects how I interpret the world around me. To me, each piece is both a portrait and a kind of nature note—drawn directly from the landscapes I know.

I often find it frustrating to explain my work in words. The real joy comes when someone connects with it in their own way. I especially love when a collector hangs a piece “the wrong way up”—it shows they’ve made it their own :).

I’m always humbled that people choose to live with my work. I want it to stand on its own, without needing a statement or explanation to make it valid.

What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?

As a mother, this comes first, always. My studio practice has been through various stages from working between sleep times, and now between school hours. This ‘restriction’ has actually made me more productive. When I am in the studio I am working. I am a bit relentless. I don’t procrastinate. I don’t have the time and throw myself in 100%. Then pickup time comes around and dinner prep starts and its tools down. It’s all about the juggle and the balance. I am very grateful to have an incredibly supportive Partner and together we balance our respective careers. He recently freed himself up to pick up some of the slack on the home front to support my studio practice.

Amy is wearing Lupon pants and Lucuma shirt.