HONG KONG: Ken Done has been fascinated by what lies beneath the waters of Australia ever since he was given a mask as a boy.
Since then he has dived and snorkelled countless times, never losing his fascination with coral and the life it supports.
And, naturally, he has felt compelled to commit his vision of the Great Barrier Reef to canvas and paper.
“I’ve been painting reef paintings for about the past 60 years off and on,” says Done, now 74.
“Over the past 10 years or so I have made a series of very large pictures. They’re not illustrations – it’s not what it looks like under the reef but the reef for me is an amazing source of inspiration to try and make beautiful things.
“These are quintessential Australian paintings. You can’t make these paintings unless you love the Barrier Reef and the other reefs around Australia.”
His hope for these large-scale works is that they will lift the spirits of those who see them.
“I think in the time we live when you can see suicide bombers on the TV at night or on the front-page of the paper, art has a different role to play,” says Done. “I hope that these kinds of pictures give people pleasure over a long period of time. For me, art should be more like poetry and give you pleasure.”
To own a limited edition from Ken Done’s Reef Collection or purchase the works of other artists click here.
But despite his insistence that his pictures carry no subtext, he is well aware of the environmental threats to our coral reefs.
“It is something I hope my grandchildren can see but over the years I have been diving I have seen some areas that are not what they used to be 20 or 30 years ago,” he says. “I think that is sad.”
However, nothing, it seems keeps the irrepressible Done down for long – not the high-profile tussle with the Commonwealth Bank over massive losses, since settled, nor his more recent battle with prostate cancer.
