Carle Hessay: Waterfront Industry 1977

Carle Hessay: Waterfront Industry

In this somewhat haunting image of massed small buildings in the foreground set against a towering background of what might a large harbour facility, there is the suggestion of a busy port, but there are no people in evidence. Whether it is still too early in the day, given the flush of colour in the sky, or this is a reminder of the deserted hub of a once-thriving maritime enterprise is left to the viewer's imagination.

In some ways it is reminiscent of "Empty Street" (see the Cabins and Pioneer Settlements section) painted the previous year. In it, there is still an evocative raging fire in one of the windows, as if the devastation is in the process of happening. Here, however, nature has been eliminated and over built, unless the brightening sky in the background is suggestive of the sun's diurnal progress, irrespective of man's efforts.

Sober in its restrained and telling use of colour, "Waterfront Industry" invites a thoughtful engagement with the subject of man's mark on this planet.

(Dimensions: 36 x 24 inches; 91. 44 cm x 60.8 cm; oil based paint on canvas board)