From the 12th to 25th August 2017, the Tramscapes Exhibition was held at Gallery Domov, North Melbourne, Australia. It was an exhibition of a series of paintings of Melbourne trams alongside Prague trams.

On returning to Melbourne, after five years in Prague, I was drawn to how iconic the tinny Melbourne Z-Class tram fits into the geometric Melbourne landscape, and how similarly Prague's iconic curvy red tram fits into its landscape. I sought to do these paintings to explore imagery of the cities alongside their little cabled buggies.

Artistically, I used this series to explore a number of approaches. The silhouettes and darker tones mimic stenciling, seen in graffiti art, strewn across urban cityscapes. Dark forms flow across the canvas bringing objects, figures and backgrounds into a single inseparable shape. Opposing the shadows, in the light, the colours of the city, trams and streets bring character to the painting against the black.

The choice of trams is due to my personal enthusiasm around them. Spending so long in two tram cities, I wanted to juxtapose the two city and the tram seemed the most logical icon. I am a lifelong commuter who, now at 36, has never had a driver's license, public transport has not only been a thing of dependence, but a place to endlessly wonder what gets painted next.