Ches Mills
Ches Mills is a visual artist whose work is deeply influenced by her enduring connection to the coast and ocean.
Working with ink, acrylic, gouache, charcoal, pencil and printmaking techniques on linen and paper, Ches creates intricate, layered works exploring the beauty, complexity, interconnectivity and diversity of oceanic environments, from benthic environments to the littoral zone.
Her process is intuitive and organic, gradually building layers before working back into the emerging forms with detailed imagery.
Individual works can take up to six months to complete, with the many hours of layering and refinement reflected in their remarkable intricacy.
Now residing on the picturesque Mornington Peninsula, Ches is immersed in the coastal landscape that has long held a special place in her life. Living by the sea fosters her love of the coast and provides continual inspiration for her practice. For Ches, it is a place of beauty, discovery and connection; one that continually offers something new to observe, interpret and explore through her art.
An enduring coastal connection
Ches has long been fascinated by the extraordinary worlds that exist beneath the ocean’s surface. The vivid colours, intricate forms, patterns and relationships found within marine ecosystems offer an almost limitless visual language, from expansive underwater landscapes to the smallest, often overlooked details.
There is a sense of wonder and discovery in these environments that continually captures her imagination. It is this richness and complexity that Ches seeks to interpret through her own visual language, rather than simply recreate what she sees.
Alongside this fascination is an awareness of the fragility of these remarkable environments and the increasing pressures they face from climate change and pollution.
For Ches, painting provides a way to give expression to that awareness while remaining, first and foremost, a celebration of what inspires her. Her works invite the viewer to look closely, linger over the detail and perhaps experience something of the wonder she finds within the ocean herself.
Ches Mills“My work evolves slowly and intuitively, sometimes over many months. I build layer upon layer, allowing forms and details to emerge as I go. Much like the ocean itself, there is always another layer, another detail and something unexpected to discover.”
A life in art
Ches’s practice has been shaped by a lifetime of creating, learning and exploring through art. Following a career in education, her own artistic practice has remained a constant, evolving through different mediums, ideas and experiences while retaining the curiosity and close observation that continue to characterise her work today.
Over the years, Ches has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas, with her work forming part of solo and group exhibitions and recognised through awards, residencies, publications and collaborative projects.
Each chapter has contributed to an artistic practice that continues to evolve. Now working from the Mornington Peninsula, Ches remains deeply engaged with her art, developing new bodies of work and continuing to exhibit and share her practice with new audiences.
Explore upcoming exhibitions and the milestones that have shaped Ches’s artistic journey.
“The ocean has always been my happy place. Through my work, I hope to capture something of its beauty, intricacy and wonder.”
- Ches Mills