LIKE WOW, WIPEOUT MICHAEL REID GALLERIES, JANUARY 2025

A small suite of evocative, nostalgia-tinged surf paintings inspired by work from the Newcastle series of 2024.

Titled 'Like Wow, Wipeout', the artist's retro surfing scenes offer a wistful ode to the classic Australian beach holiday. Like postcards from the decade that brought us Puberty Blues, each piece reflects her affinity for the Australian vernacular and her eye for the totemic images and objects that loom large in the cultural memory.

Reminiscent of faded snapshots from a family road trip or the type of idealised, sun-splashed imagery that might adorn the interior of a Surf Life Saving Club or a coastal RSL, White's petite and perfectly composed paintings seem less concerned with the actual landscapes they depict than the halcyon era they evoke. They transport us to laid-back, languorous days of salubrious, sporty pursuits in a simpler, more innocent time.