Christopher Jewitt is a contemporary artist whose work embraces spontaneity, movement, and experimentation. Based in Melbourne, his practice is shaped by immersive experiences in unfamiliar environments, from China, where he was awarded Top Documentary Photographer at Nankai University, to self-directed residencies across Europe and Japan.

Jewitt’s paintings transform everyday objects into vibrant, layered compositions where bold colour and restless mark-making create a sense of playful disruption. Zigzags cut through swirls, thick daubs sit beside delicate lines, and saturated hues collide in a visual frenzy. Straddling abstraction and figuration, his work evokes the spontaneity of notebook doodles while revealing an underlying harmony in the chaos.

Jewitt’s (painting) process involves various discrete stages, often employing airbrush, marker, caulking gun, oil brush and oil stick. The abrasions and agreements between these layers constructs a hefty, vibrational visual story.

Extracting meaning from the commotion of colours and routes can be challenging. But airbrushed figures are the simple, poetical foundation. These gain elusive agency through an intuition of sensual pattern-making. The careful balance of forms and orientation within each frame is indispensable to Jewitt’s craft. Tiny pockets of negative space are preserved throughout, allowing intricacies and groupings to coexist.

Exposed canvas is an exceptionally unique feature of his paintings. Colours and shapes combine with childish boldness and the pieces convey an unashamedly naive interplay of materials. But the movement between the bare and the complicated is the strongest premise of his work.