Ep 157: Caroline Zilinsky

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Caroline Zilinsky’s paintings freeze pivotal moments in our culture’s history, encouraging us to reflect upon our times, whether it’s the absurdity, the horror or the humour.

At the risk of being labelled a conspiracy theorist, she’s attracted to the dilemmas brought on by the internet era and shines a light on the things that trouble most of us: our loss of privacy, shortened attention, a heightened focus on appearance, a growing indifference to human suffering and the increasing power assumed by tech giants.

Her paintings often depict a political or social narrative and although she accepts some are too confronting to hang above the sofa, there’s something about the levity in her use of line, colour and form which invites us to venture into the darker corners of our culture, causing us to linger and question.

Caroline is also well known for her portraiture and landscape painting. She won the Portia Geach Memorial Award portraiture prize in 2020 (the same year she won the Evelyn Chapman award) and has been a finalist in many others including the Archibald and Darling portrait prizes.

This interview took place at the mid-career survey show of Caroline’s work ‘Exquisite Cadaver’ at the University of Newcastle Gallery. Curated by Gillean Shaw, it was a collection of 40 stunning works spanning over 2 decades. The interview was also filmed and I’ll be posting a video, including footage from the exhibition and Caroline’s studio, on the TWP YouTube channel in the coming weeks.

Feature photo: Phillip Antonio Lemos

‘Kubla Khan’
2022
oil on linen
107 x 106.7 cm

‘Exquisite Corpse’
2024
Oil on linen

‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ 2023
oil on linen
138 x 138cm

‘Faceless The Congressional Hearing of Mark Zuckerberg’ 2020
oil on linen
122 x 122cm

‘Man of Few Words’
2020
Ink on AGNSW archive manila folder
30 x 21cm (paper size), 60 x 47cm (framed size)

‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ 2023
Oil on linen
112 x 122cm

‘Plastic Fantastic’, 2023
oil on linen
56 x 62cm

‘Refract Back’, 2023
Oil on linen
112 x122 cm

‘Too Long; Didn’t Read (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)’
2023
Oil, Oil Stick and Digital Configuration on Canvas
97 x 87cm

‘Me and Ellie’, 2004-2005
oil on linen
71 x 454.5cm
‘My Brother Adrian’
oil on linen
72.5 x 54cm

Caroline Zilinsky’s paintings freeze pivotal moments in our culture’s history, encouraging us to reflect upon our times, whether it’s the absurdity, the horror or the humour.