Red Herring is a collection of landscape paintings drawn from places my husband and I have visited over the past two years — from the remote landscapes of Borneo, the ancient and sun-drenched terrain of Greece and the diverse landscapes of Africa, to places closer to home in Australia.

While each painting begins with a particular landscape and the experience of being present within it, these works are not simply records of place. Embedded within every landscape is a red object — sometimes immediately apparent, sometimes partially concealed, and at times almost imperceptible. These red forms become signifiers of memory, experience and association.

The colour red carries an intensity that draws the eye and interrupts the landscape. In some works, the connection between the red object and the place or experience may seem clear. In others, the object may appear arbitrary or even misleading. Its significance may be understood only by me. These are the red herrings — clues that suggest a story, but do not necessarily reveal it.

The paintings therefore occupy a space between observation and memory. They reflect the way travel is experienced and remembered: through particular moments, fleeting encounters, unexpected details and personal associations that may have little meaning to anyone else.

By introducing these red objects into otherwise observed landscapes, I invite the viewer to search for them and perhaps construct their own narratives around them. What is obvious? What is hidden? What is a clue, and what is a distraction?

Red Herring is ultimately less about faithfully depicting the places we have travelled than about the way those places become personally held — transformed through memory, association and the stories we attach to them.