The

of

TREVOR FLETT
The
of TREVOR FLETT

ISBN 978 0 9875866 0 5

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The

of

TREVOR FLETT
An unfinished journey

North Figures 1/2/3 Triptych 2013, oil in canvas 90 90 cm

is a repertoire of visual language.

This is my voice in art. It is a celebration of the familiar urban
street language we see everyday in our peripheral background as we
go about our busy lives. This fusion of proactive textures and abstract
figures are designed to assault our senses, often housing typography,
innuendos, metaphors and symbolic messages.
Artouch is a juxtaposition of creative tensions that resonate with
raw colour, kissing patinas with a tongue of anarchy. It thrives as a
background song, a chorus of urban depictions and ambient noise
inspired by street scribbles and stencil graffiti. As an art voice, it is
a place where the sharp meets the blur, which conspire together,
swimming towards our eyes as a primal scream, kissing concepts and
touching emotions along the way.
It defines who we are in a time capsule a portrait of our time.
Here is the language of Artouch.
Trevor Flett
2013

this book: Art is not a mirror to reflect the world but

the hammer with which to shape it. Charles Baudelaire
Life is a conversation. This publication is about my dialogue with art
throughout my life. Artouch enables my artistic language as a unique
voice and creative soul. This is my genre my story. In this world,
creativity has no boundaries. My fine art informs and inspires my
commercial art and vice versa. It defines who I am and what I stand for.
Art making and creating is my oxygen, my heartbeat which energises
me daily.
You are what you most often do. Aristotle
Some of my friends and fellow artists have suggested it would be worth
archiving a collection of my body of work to record and document my
evolution as an artist. Im treating this book of my work as a creative
and learning exercise. Here it is my art.
TF 2013

Fig 417 2003-6, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

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Squat 2007, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

Footlighter Dancer 2008, oil on canvas 135 70 cm

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I was 5 years old. My West Footscray

(Western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria), Sunday school
teacher said in a loud voice in front of my class, Look what little
Trevor has done!
We had been asked to draw a bible reading. Most of the kids drew stick
figures but I had managed to capture Jesus, complete with beard, body,
robe and even a little shadow to define the ground he stood on. At the
time I remember being a little embarrassed but also a wee bit proud.
This was a defining moment, when I realised I could draw and that not
everybody had the same skill. Drawing became my best friend in life,
the ultimate travelling companion a way of telling stories a way of
communicating. Drawing from life has shaped me.

Resorting 2008, oil on canvas 35 45 cm

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Man of Letters
2008
oil on canvas
90 90 cm
Cubist & Model
2007
oil on canvas
60 45 cm
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up in the Western suburbs, I went to Footscray

Technical College and was faced with a big decision. I needed to
decide on my direction in life. I loved sport and art.
I needed to choose between a Trade and the Commercial Course.
There was also a new Art Course, which had just been introduced.
I can still hear my Dad saying very clearly get a trade under your belt,
son! I felt the Art Course would suit me best.
Eventually, after much debate with my parents, we finally agreed on
the new art course and I never looked back.
This was another defining moment in my creative journey, which
taught me a valuable lesson: Always follow your heart, trust your
intuition and never neglect the gift within.

If Frida was a Fish 2007, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

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Boxer 2008
oil on canvas
100 75 cm
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Body Image 2008

oil on canvas
180 110 cm
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streetscapes and urban textures surround us everyday

occupying our peripheral vision. This is the body language of
the street. It is a labyrinth of graffiti, stencils, smudges, dribbles and
energetic messages that never sleep. This is the code of our time, which
has migrated into fashion, architecture and our lives.
Think about how this familiar vernacular occupies our eyeballs
everyday as a visual DNA in our community. I have adopted this
language in my art, my paintings, monoprints, stencils, accidental
dollops and dashes that socially depict our sense of place and a sense of
how we fit in the world.
The digital revolution dictates our lives and operates in written code.
It transfers information in the air we breathe. A perpetual signal
invading our personal space and our time. I am the fourth wall in this
urban theatre, this familiar chaos, and this visual risotto we witness
and collaborate with everyday, everywhere. There is continual totemic
seeing, working energetically towards our line of sight.
This is the voice of Artouch.

Just Listen 2007, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

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Women Cloud 2006, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

Sky Hugger 2006, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

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see Watson but you do not observe quoted Sherlock Holmes.

I love people-watching, observing and reading body language. I
could do it all day. Seeing is a privilege and a real weapon in artistic
journeys. Higher noticing moments become valuable inspirations in
the creative process.
Our world is full of visual noise which can saturate your senses. The
Art of seeing sharpens our perceptions to focus and filter our priorities
and simplify back to the essential essence.
Because I adore textures and patinas, I often choose to start with these
as a base platform before getting lost, before finding forms that emerge
from within. You dont know what you dont know, so each canvas
is a discovery. Ive learnt not to over-predict the final destination.
Deconstructed observations, reconstructed towards a figurative
resolution, remain pure art moments for me. These are the moments
that matter.

Dialogue 2007, oil and collage on board 23 13 cm

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1st vs 2nd (Reverse Takeover) 2003-2013, oil on canvas 90 90 cm

Top: Les Twentyman The Everywhere Man, Archibald Triptych, oil on canvas, refinished 2011, 180 135 cm 3. Above: detail
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high performance observations, we can be overwhelmed by

a flood of influences that over-persuade our art. We are spoilt for
choice in visual stimulation, in the world of the information highway.
Early at Prahran Art College at tertiary level, German expressionist,
George Grosz taught me how to see through faces and form. This was
the art of seeing what lies beneath the surface appearance. To de-facade
the mask. Unmask the surface.
My experience working behind the counter at my fathers shop Fletts
Braybrook Hardware, taught me how to empathise with customers
how to talk with my ears. Here were genuine people with real
questions. By practising my listening and observation skills, reading
conversations, facial expressions and body language with ordinary
human beings, grounded my creativity back to artistic basics and
practical fundamentals.
Then, like most, I experienced the over-influence of the genius,
Pablo Picasso. I still have that hangover. Now it is Matisse that shines
most brightly in my studio space, which energises my environment.
His pure inventiveness and innovation make me want to make him
proud. The Wild Beasts Fauves and the Cubists have always been in
the corner of my eye. Kitaj, Klimt, Leger and Nolan all have a place
in my heart. Its great to appreciate the significant turning points in
Art History the excitement of breaking new ground and seeing
differently.

Charles Rajkovic,
Artist
Archibald Portrait
2011
oil on canvas
170 130 cm
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My friend Leger
2008
oil on oval canvas
45 35 cm
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Detail
Bondi Girl 2007
oil on canvas
100 75 cm
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in the art process mark sweet spots in art making.

Like those times when you went to the chemist before the digital
age, to rifle eagerly through your developed photographs to see if they
had come out. That highly anticipated moment of truth.
As a young fellow I would stay at my grandparents place. Pop was
a rabbit monger with ferrets, racing pigeons and a white 3-legged
greyhound in their backyard. It was on their mildew ceilings that I first
began to see faces, shapes and figures.
Finding forms by accident and making sense in the maze is a serious
scaffold to build my image.
Stencils and monoprints feature heavily in my art. In the process I
cut images back to front never really knowing what I am going to
get. After loading and spraying with paint there comes the moment
of peeling back to reveal what you have created. Moments of creation
have mixed blessings Gee I got that right, or Oh hell it smudged,
bugger its blurred.
Slowly, the figures come to life, revealing themselves from my chaotic
and often accidental textured backgrounds. We all appreciate how
Michelangelo discovers his human forms in giant marble slabs. This
is the beautiful creative process when deconstruction builds a new
construct, redefining its purpose and meaning.
What a revealing journey.

Face Book 2008, collage and oil on board 34 29 cm

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Detail, Matador (Language is a lens) 2008, collage 20 36 cm

Venetian Woman 2008, oil on canvas 30 30 cm

Detail, Chaotic Rendezvous 2008, oil on canvas 120 90 cm

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Angels Energy 2013, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

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and Art Camps in the Australian landscape have been

important to me over many decades. These are the times when
I travel with 20 plus fellow artists and a dedicated camp cook. We
are kindred spirits with a shared sense of purpose, together for a
week or so in the remote Australian outback. We articulate our art
with drawing, painting, writing, performing with dance and sharing
creative conversations around the campfire. Sometimes, we stay on
Sheep Stations sleeping in shearing quarters. These sojourns, designed
for us to rejuvenate and confront our own personal art with creative
peers, developing a sense of place, which responds to the immediate
environment our sense of country.
For me this is confronting my art. No excuses, no place to hide. Its
time to piss or get off the pot! as our cook Toby yells after breakfast.
Its time to sharpen the pencils again. Blank Paper or a Blank Canvas
dares the artist to make the first move first stroke. The end of the
beginning. Commence away. Art happens. Time stops I am under
the artists careful watch.

Wentworth
Dreaming
2011
oil on paper
150 60 cm
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Dot 2009, oil on canvas 75 60 cm

Bliss 2010, oil on canvas 60 45 cm
Yellow Sally 2008, oil on canvas 90 60 cm
Bodyscape 2008, oil on canvas 60 40 cm

Moving Stencil 2008, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

A picture has a thousand words 2006, oil on canvas 160 100 cm

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is all about asking questions. Genius is making complicated

things simple. Henri Matisse was a master of incompleteness.
He forces us to join the dots, to involve us by not telling.
It takes time and courage to simplify a line to pure essence and truth.
This is when stretched truth can become a higher truth. Knowing when
to distort reality becomes the art. In my creative journey, I sometimes
feel a passenger to my art. As I translate, channel and interpret onto
canvas, I often feel I have little say in it. Art made me do it! Now after
a life as an artist, expressing my fine art, I give myself permission to let
a painting discover me, to get the concept out organically and in focus
for us to all see.
The Art of letting (Fletting) go. Its a game-changer when we practice
how to trust that process. The best advice is to follow your heart and
trust your instincts.

Understanding Matisse 2011, oil on paper 80 60 cm

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Japanese Vase Woman 2006, oil and acrylic on canvas 90 60 cm

Woman Fish 2008, oil on canvas 90 90 cm
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Australians have been invaded on all levels in this

country. This is something that I feel very strongly about. (See
paintings titled First Australians versus Second Australians, page 24 and
Gamechanger Indigenous Art Prize 2011, opposite page).
Walking through the Australian desert a little bit long way, I can
sense indigenous footprints and handprints, flints and stone tools
legacies of a continuous living culture spanning some 50,000 years.
Indigenous Art has taught me how the first Australians saw their world
before the white fella came with his colonising laws. I worked closely
with Aboriginal elders including White Man Cockatoo as a part of
our design team that influenced and shaped the design destiny of the
running boomerang man. This iconic emblem became the Sydney
2000 Olympic Games a symbol that was seen by two thirds of the
worlds population. Sharing the Spirit. Its a long story short.

Ripples 2007, oil on canvas 150 120 cm

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Bodytype 2013, acrylic on flour bag proof 75 45 cm

Detail, Fig 5 2011, oil on canvas 90 150 cm

Trade Off 2011, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

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speaking, I am passionate about the human

form and the way it moves. As a musician bends a note, I enjoy
distorting the reality of the body shape. In essence, take the highly
recognisable human figure for a big, long walk, stretching its reality
to a pure fundamental form. Children depict human beings as stick
figures. This makes perfect sense to them. That circle is my mums
head, cant you see?
I see figures, faces and human forms in everything. These are the
textures, patinas and abstract patterns I underpaint with. Theres an
abundance of figures just below the surface, waiting to be released.
The artist rescues and liberates these lost souls entombed in texture.
I figured that out.

Window
Shopper
2007
oil on canvas
90 75 cm
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Recline 2006
oil on canvas
60 75 cm
Detail, Enviro 2003, oil on paper 60 40 cm

Detail, When a dot becomes a woman 2006, oil on wood 110 75 cm

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Detail, Matisse in Spring 2011, Artback oil on paper 75 60 cm

Detail, Concurve 2011, oil on paper 75 60 cm

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Detail, RiverQueen 2012, oil on canvas 90 60 cm

has no boundaries. As both a Creative Director and a

fine artist playing in a big creative sandpit, the fundamentals have
shown me that each discipline informs the other. The creative narrative
is based on a platform of basic fundamentals.
I have practised as a Designer, Art Director and more recently a
Brand Reputation Architect, since graduating at university with an
Art & Design diploma/degree. Over this time, I have been involved
with many significant Australian organisations (see Creative Biography
on page 64).
All of these valuable experiences have energised and inspired my
other arts drawing, painting, filmmaking, photography, sculpture,
printmaking, multimedia and publishing. Digital technology has
provided a broader canvas on which to articulate my creative ideas and
stories. The pigeon hole is officially dead.

Artist & Model

2011
oil on canvas
50 40 cm
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Body of Light 2012, oil and acrylic on canvas 80 60 cm

Conversations 2013, oil on canvas 75 60 cm

Way 2012, oil on paper 75 60 cm

Bending Notes 2010, oil on canvas 40 25 cm

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Archibald Art prize is the premier portrait painting event

in Australia. I have painted with my language, Artouch, some
distinguished Australian faces, without being hung. Every entry is
a wonderful experience, going through the protocols of finding the
right person, studying them in real life, interviewing and painting my
chosen subject. Always this event attracts attention and controversy,
with some years better in standard than others. Some say its
Sydney-centric, a platform for photo-realism and a lottery controlled
by the trustees and judges. Pound for pound its a great event and piece
of theatre for the Australian art community.
However Im a sucker for punishment and love a challenge. Probably
my best efforts have been the following Australians: Les Twentyman,
youth worker legend and advocate, where my street vocabulary was
most appropriate (page 25). Lynne Kosky, Victorian State MP.
Charles Rajkovic, Artist (page 27).
All part of the on-going learning curve.

Kosky 2006
Archibald oil and
acrylic on canvas
60 60 cm
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Grampians SA 2010
pen & ink on paper
42 60 cm
Ruby Gap NT 2011
pen & ink on paper
42 60 cm
Liberation West MacDonnell Ranges
Finke River 2012
pen & ink on paper
30 42 cm
Sissinghurst Castle Kent UK 2012
pen and ink on paper
50 40 cm
Graham Brindley
Artback pen ink wash on paper
75 60 cm
Wheres my Eureka 2007
oil on canvas
100 50 cm
Stone-Woman 2013
Limestone
100 40 40 cm

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Inside-Out (I am what I consume) 2009, oil on canvas board 90 60 cm

Detail, Gamechanger 2008-2010, oil on canvas 120 90 cm

Detail, Connections 2011, oil on paper 160 100 cm

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Water Stencil 2012, oil on canvas 100 50 cm

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it when Ive got a pen in my hand. When the lines fall in just
the right places, Then I am at one with the ink and all is well.
Getting lost in a painting, loosing any sense of time, enjoying the
journey and feeling satisfied with the result are all delicious highlights
for a practising artist. Equally, frustration can be the mother of
invention. Art making can take my heart for a walk, attacking me deep
within and then holding up the humility mirror that tells all.
Since I have taken away the fear of failure and the stress of working
to a deadline for the next exhibition, I now enjoy the journey of my
art. Art is not about the destination. Its a way of life. I have learnt
how to keep things simple and to try not to try too much. I am more
comfortable in my skin about my art than ever before and its showing
with new recent works in my Richmond Studio.
With art theres no place to hide. Its there for the world to see if you have
the courage to show it so, this is my art.
Trevor Flett
2013.

Animalism 2009-2013 (painted over five Anzac Days) oil on canvas 80 120 cm

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ABOUT TREVOR FLETT

Born 12/2/1950
Creative/Professional Biography
Secondary Education: Footscray Institute of Technology (Art Course)
Tertiary Education: Prahran Technical College (Diploma Art & Design)
Creative History
Trevor has maintained a strong balance, as a creative practitioner between his Fine Art and
Commercial Art. Over the last three decades he has practised his art making with six solo
exhibitions in Melbourne, 10 group shows including a group of Artback artists who travel around
the country in Art camps to produce works of the Australian landscape

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to dedicate this publication to my two wonderful
daughters, Ness and Emily Flett who simply are the future.
Thank you to my father, Allan Flett (who still lives in the family
home in West Footscray), for his sense of humour, together with
my mum, Irene Flett (who has now passed away), for their great
support throughout my journey. Much love and appreciation to
my partner in life, my wingman and one of the great human
beings, Jan Kelly. Im very lucky to have her in my life. To all
my family, friends and fellow artists, too many to mention, but
you know who you are a big thank you for sharing with me the
stories, experiences and conversations that have helped me shape
my life as an artist and as a creative person. A special thanks to my
new best art teacher, Oliver Hemingway (aged 4 years). Finally,
but not least, this book would not have been possible without
the energy, expertise and great friendship of my Neapolitan mate,
Mimmo Cozzolino. Thank you all for being in my life.
My Art salutes you. TF June 2013.
This book is published by Trevor Flett, Melbourne, Australia
artist@trevorflett.com www.trevorflett.com
First published 2013 Copyright 2013, Trevor Flett
All rights reserved. This book is copyright. Apart from any
fair dealing for purposes of criticism, review or private research
as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be
reproduced or transmitted by any means without prior written
permission. Please direct all enquiries to the publisher.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Flett, Trevor, author
The art of Trevor Flett: an unfinished journey / Trevor Flett.
9780987586605 (hardback)
Flett, Trevor.
Artists--Australia--Biography.
759.994092

1986 First Group Show. Seal Club Galleries, Middle Park Melbourne
1987-2013 Group shows including Artback Artists Group, Wentworth, NSW
1992 Nude Language Solo Exhibition. Elaine Galleries, Fitzroy
2002 A Body of Fluid Energy Major one-man show. Goya Galleries, South Melbourne.
Paintings, Works on Paper, Etchings and Sculptures. Over 200 individual works
2004 Twenty/20 Gabriel Gallery, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Solo Exhibition featuring
Archibald of Les Twentyman, paintings and works on Paper of Icons of the West
2006 Art of Australia Gallery, Hawthorn with Indigenous Artists
2007 Back to Front Walker Street Gallery, Dandenong. Solo Exhibition
2008 Man oF LETTers Walker Street Gallery, Dandenong. Solo Exhibition
2009 Nude Ochre Gallery, Fitzroy. Group Show
2009 Street inspired Art Ochre Gallery, Fitzroy. Group Show
2009 Ruby Gap Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne. Group Exhibition
2010 Artouch Exhibition. Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne. Solo Exhibition with
Paintings and Works on Paper
2010 Melbourne Art Fair, Joshua Michael Gallery, Exhibit Stand C10, Exhibition Buildings
2013 Artback Group Show Artback Gallery, Wentworth, NSW.
Relevant experiences include working in Melbourne and London as a graphic designer.
In 1976, Trevor co-founded, Flett Henderson & Arnold Design. His responsibilities as Partner
included Creative Director, Director of Strategy and later, Chairman, as it evolved into
FutureBrand. The company employed up to 65 people in its Melbourne and Sydney offices and
was responsible for the design and creation of many significant Australian Branding Icons and
Identity Systems including: Telstra, BHP Billiton, Orica, Origin Energy, ANZ Bank,
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Brand Australia, Crown Entertainment, Cricket Australia,
AFL, City of Melbourne, City of Boroondara, Australian Navy, Freehills, Clayton Utz, Corrs,
Australian Society of Accountants (CPA), RACGP, and many more Australian Professional
Services, FMCG Programs together with the creation of Brand Strategies (Design, Architecture,
Implementation and Communications) for many private companies, Not for Profits,
Multi-National Organisations and Small to Medium Enterprises.
Other relevant experiences include: Trevor has been a commentator and broadcaster on the
Images and Icons of Melbourne with Terry Laidler, on ABC 3LO 774 for six years.
Numerous keynote speeches, lectures, published works and Industry Awards.
Life Member and Co-founder Australian Graphic Design Association.
Life Member and former Director/Vice President of AFL Club Western Bulldogs.
Chairman Hayball Architects (six years).
Amcor Global Brand Architect/Consultant (over three years).
Brand Architect for Federation Shopping Centres (formerly Centro).
Visit Trevors Web Gallery/ Works for Sale: www.trevorflett.com
Email: artist@trevorflett.com Mobile +61 41 902 1950

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