Artwork Details
- Artist
- Rhoda
- Title
- Di Sotto in Su (View from Below)
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 79.2 × 53.8 cm
This painting takes its title and inspiration from the dramatic perspective of Italian church frescoes—specifically the di sotto in sù technique, where figures appear to float or lean down from the heavens as if seen from below. Walking through Italian churches, I found myself looking up at angels and saints gazing back down at me. That feeling—of being small, of being seen, of looking upward into mystery—is what I wanted to capture here. The figure leans out from above, suspended between earth and sky, watcher and watched.
About the Artist
Rhoda Kirk is a Western Australian artist whose work explores light, form, and the figure through a disciplined practice of drawing and painting from life. Her oils and pastels, grounded in traditional technique and an ongoing study of art history, seek to capture a sense of universal presence within atmospheric, ambiguous spaces. Bio 2026 Rhoda strives to form a bridge between figuration and abstraction, particularly in relationship to the human form. Graduating in 2015 from Curtin University with an honours degree in fine art, she has maintained an ongoing dialogue with the history of art, particularly, in relationship to painting. Her work employs traditional painting techniques such as chiaroscuro, glazing and scumbling along with more contemporary, a la prima techniques and the use of pastels. She has travelled extensively around Europe observing the works of the great masters and studied with some living masters in Italy. This has had a big influence on her development as an artist. She has developed her painting and drawing skills by hours spent in the studio and by painting and drawing from life and live models. She is involved in the Perth life drawing scene and is involved in running various painting and drawing groups. Recently she has been doing some plein air painting which she is hoping to further develop.
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