The Arc of Happiness

Bec Smith . Emily Imeson . Justin Scivetti

11 - 21 November 2021

Saint Cloche proudly presents 'The Arc of Happiness,' a Satellite exhibition at our Paddington gallery featuring three emerging Australian artists as part of Explore Contemporary.

Despite disruptions to Sydney Contemporary 2021, Explore Sydney Contemporary's digital platform will host the country's largest art collection from November 11-21, 2021. Simultaneously, Saint Cloche will showcase its satellite exhibition, introducing three artists initially invited to Sydney Contemporary at Carriageworks.

At Saint Cloche, we believe in the transformative power of art for real-world impact. Our exhibition explores the universal desire for connection, weaving together diverse environments and revealing the myriad manifestations of happiness. Handpicked by Saint Cloche’s Gallery Director, Kitty Clark, these artists showcase the joy inherent in the pursuit of place and identity.

The Arc of Happiness

"My works are realisations of actual and idealised situations about the dynamics of people translated into a painted static ‘freeze frame’. Whether a witnessed exchange, or an environment my paintings expose a particular moment in time for what it may be, or may become. Fiction, non-fiction, and multiple truths."

- Bec Smith

"Through the sustained immersion in the landscape and ‘en plein air’ painting I explore my immediate environment. I move through place to learn, watch, listen, take notes, sketch and paint. I am inspired by healthy environments and feel a responsibility to understand, respect, and care for the landscapes I encounter."

- Emily Imeson

"I have been looking at every day, local landscapes around Melbourne. Those that I come across on the daily or places I frequent.

Focusing on the built and architectural element of my surroundings. Using those as a vehicle to explore colour and atmosphere to create quiet, contemplative narratives."

- Justin Scivetti

Bec Smith

Bec Smith is a Melbourne-based artist who has practiced art and design in both Australia and overseas for over 20 years.

In pursuit of her creative practice Bec has studied at The Art Academy in London, the Art Room in Melbourne, RMIT and Swinburne National School of Design where she holds a Bachelor degree.

Bec has always stayed particularly interested in abstract, non- objective, and colourfield paintings from the early part of the last century – a natural extension of a designer’s grounding in the early design language of the Bauhaus, equally with her interest in 20th century postmodernism. Her works are realisations of actual and idealised situations about the dynamics of people translated into static, photograph-like frames. A particular moment in time for what it may be or may become – fiction, non-fiction and multiple truths.

Bec has been selected for the Belle Art Prize, exhibited at the Melbourne Design Festival on multiple occasions, and her work is held in private collections.

Emily Imeson

Emily continuously takes herself into the land exploring ways to translate experience into paintings. Inspired by the resilience found within nature, the landscape has become a metaphor for her own psychology.

Her works explore vivifying forces of nature, whilst also encouraging her audience to reflect on the impact humanity assails upon the world. Set in foundations of ‘en plein air’ painting she attempts to push beyond exclusively visual stimuli by reflecting upon memories.

From 2018 – 2021 Emily traversed the country, living and working out of her trusty Toyota Troopy. A formative experience that highlighted a consciousness of the tensions embedded in landscape traditions and Australia’s sustained colonisation.

Emily was awarded the Macquarie Group Emerging Artist Prize in 2019 for her work ‘Alive in the Dead of Night’. Most recently, she received a Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, 202. She has multiple works in private collections, works in the Macquarie Group Collection, Ballina Shire Council’s collection, Law Courts Building at Queen’s Square and is represented by Saint Cloche Gallery.

Justin Scivetti

Justin Maurice Scivetti is a figurative Landscape painter based in Melbourne. His artistic practice is balanced by a career in horticulture and landscaping, as well as nourishing his passion for plants working at a nursery.

Floating somewhere between the real and unreal, his landscapes imbue a type of fantasy; they appear mysterious and other-worldly conjuring a quiet stillness. They are inspired by the natural and built environment, exploring subtleties in colour and light to bring the works to life.

Justin has a Bachelor of Fine Arts – Printmaking, after graduating from the National Art School in 2011, a Diploma of Fine Arts – Painting & Photography, St. George TAFE, Sydney in 2008, and more recently, a Diploma of applied Horticultural Science – Melbourne Polytechnic, 2017. He has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Sydney, and Melbourne, and has been a finalist in several art prizes – including receiving the Oil Painting Prize in the Waverly Art Prize 2019.