Beyond Perdition 2024

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Paul Rhodes is an artist, art teacher, therapist and Professor of Clinical Psychology at The University of Sydney. His work depicts the experience of human distress and recovery, accepting the reality of difficult emotions, whilst allowing for stories of hope, redemption and recovery. His work is painted automatically, in the expressionist tradition, allowing for the depiction of affect, both found in the interior of a person, but also a reflection of circumstance and culture.

Paul is critical of contemporary psychology, preferring relational and existential metaphors which are utilised in his art. This show, Perdition, aims to capture a variety of dimensions of the healing process that we can all experience. Trauma and distress are present, sorrow, remorse and madness, but also the expressions of love, hope and redemption.

These works prioritise the depiction of emotion, both as interior and exterior, personal and social, painful but also full of unexpected potential. Whilst ultimately rejecting religion the art works remain committed to meaning-making, to faith in our power to overcome and to the simple joy of expression.