HOO ART GALLERY
Welcome to Hoo Art Gallery. We are located within one hour of Melbourne, in the heart of Mt Eliza Village; the gateway to the beautiful Mornington Peninsula. The Gallery founded in 2019, features the art of Dharshi de Silva. Visit our art gallery to buy directly from the artist. In return for your patronage, the following is our promise to you: The art and objects will stay handmade sustainably, recyclable, plastic-free, high quality, consciously unique, rare and most of all Earth-loving. Feel free to enter to look around the website. Disclaimer: You may leave uplifted with our ever-enduring moto peace, love and joy!
Dharshi de Silva's eco-print paintings are a contemporary interpretation of a unique and time-honored process. She uses the plants she grows in her garden to create breathtaking artwork, utilizing this innovative technique, which holds immense, untapped potential in the fine arts world. Joining other practitioners in a rapidly growing contemporary movement of botanical printers, Dharshi aims to elevate eco-printing to a recognized status within fine art, redefining it beyond its traditional craft reputation.
Her eco-print paintings immortalise the intricate forms of rambling ivy and the delicate beauty of dahlias, capturing their ephemeral qualities with exquisite detail. Dharshi enjoys working with natural fiber cloth and paper, using the eco-printing process to create unique imprints of garden flora directly onto her canvas before it is stretched. Each imprint is one of a kind, serving as a source of inspiration for the creation of a distinctive artwork. Her work draws influences from the pale, delicate drawings and elegant balance found in Japanese screen prints, while also incorporating the bold colors and minimal yet graphic shapes reminiscent of Toulouse-Lautrec posters.
Although Dharshi has been a fine artist for several years, consistently offering meaningful and inspirational works, she believes that her current creations from her eco-printing studio mark a significant breakthrough in her artistic journey. She is focused on expanding her skills in eco-printing and integrating her talents as a painter in oil, watercolor, botanical, and earth pigments.
Dharshi's ultimate desire is to delight viewers and open their hearts to the beauty and lessons that nature, depicted through art, offers. Her works should not be viewed merely as still life, botanical, landscape, or semi-abstract paintings; instead, they can be seen as vanitas paintings. Through her art, Dharshi emphasizes the value of beauty and reflects on the idea that all good things must come to an end, prompting contemplation on the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Often, her paintings feature the text "All is Well," prominently displayed or woven across the canvas, serving as a reminder to nurture hope, embrace the moment regardless of the circumstances, and seek light, love, peace, and joy even amid darkness.