Ahead of her upcoming presentation with Void_Melbourne at Sydney Contemporary 2025, celebrated Australian artist Louise Paramor speaks with us about her dynamic and ever-evolving practice. Known for her vibrant sculptural works and reverse-glass paintings, Paramor discusses her early influences, her fascination with everyday materials, and a future shaped by new technologies like 3D printing. With a rich career spanning decades and a relentless commitment to creative exploration, Paramor continues to challenge the boundaries between sculpture, painting, and public art.
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What inspired you to pursue a career in art, and how has your journey as an artist evolved over the years?
In Perth during the 1980s, I had an inspirational high school art teacher, Rosemary Wallace, who convinced me I had talent and that I should continue on to art school. Since graduating with a BA in painting from WAIT (now Curtin University) in 1985, the main focus of my life has been my art practice. Over the years, I have experimented with various media, sculpture being at the heart of my work. An interest in scale and an ongoing understanding of the power of objects has led me into the realm of public sculpture.
Pictured: Louise Paramor – High Society # 4 2020 | archival paper, found plastic object, steel armature | 212 x 90 x 90 cm
How do you approach the creative process when starting a new painting? Do you have any specific rituals or techniques?
I create reverse-glass paintings, using enamel to paint imagery onto the back of sheet glass. I usually gather subject matter from photographs taken of arrangements of my assemblages. The resulting paintings are colourful and often quite abstract.
Pictured: Louise Paramor – Her Majesty | 2024 | Polymer | 100 x 40 x 40 cm
Your work often plays with colour, form and scale. What drives your interest in the sculptural language of everyday materials?
My practice is based primarily in sculpture and utilises familiar objects, transforming them into dynamic, abstract compositions. A large component of my practice is the making of assemblages from found plastic objects drawn from a variety of sources. I am attracted to bright colours and unusual shapes. Once I have amassed a diverse selection, I begin a process of trial and error, arranging the parts to create finished sculptures or maquettes. I tend to work in series, which are usually unified by scale. Increasingly, I view my smaller pieces as potential maquettes for future large-scale public art projects. My three-dimensional work always informs the two-dimensional: this includes collages made from gloss enamel-painted paper, glass paintings, and photography.
Pictured: Louise Paramor – Supermodel | 2024 | Polymer | 76 x 38 x 30 cm
What can we expect to see in your presentation with Void_Melbourne at Sydney Contemporary?
There will be three different groups of works: a selection of wall-mounted boxes, each featuring a triptych of small assemblages against a colour-field backdrop; a selection of 3D-printed enlargements of small assemblage pieces presented on circular plinths; and a selection of reverse-glass paintings depicting abstracted imagery drawn from the assemblage work.
Pictured: Louise Paramor – MatchFit # 6, 2023 | Wall mounted and glass fronted | 22 x 23 x 10cm
How do you imagine yourself—your practice—to look in 10 years’ time?
All I can say is that I hope to continue to be fully immersed in my work in 10 years’ time!
How do you see your art practice evolving, and what direction are you most excited to explore?
Recently, I have started to explore the possibilities of 3D printing, which offers a new way of thinking for me. This means I am not attached to a particular scale of object when making my maquettes. Also, as colour is embedded in the plastic ‘ink’, the material translation is very sympathetic to the original found pieces. I am currently working on a ‘game’ project for a major art institution, programmed for late 2026 (the details of which are yet to be publicly announced), which involves creating a series of small assemblages with the intention to 3D print them at human scale.
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Louise will present work at Sydney Contemporary 2025 with Void_Melbourne. Tickets to Sydney Contemporary are on sale now.
