The Resolute Robert Eadie
Robert's show Strange Light left inspired and determined. Spanning Robert’s entire career, this show is marked by a clear divide: the work before and after his stroke. And what the gallery-goer experiences is Robert's refusal to give up painting despite his brain literally erasing his understanding colour.
If anything, this show is a testament to what’s possible when you refuse to be stoppable.
What makes his work special is the way he puts himself on to the canvas. Step close to the canvas and you’ll notice his process left behind: pencil marks, raw canvas peeking through, individual brush marks. He doesn’t hide his process or himself. His thick and confident marks give his art a very human feel.
In Robert's work, you see his love for Sydney—the grand gestures of its Opera House, its harbour, its rock pools—and the intimate quirks only locals might recognize: a shopping cart abandoned in Woolloomooloo, buoys bobbing quietly, the flash of cockatoos.
His colour choices somehow capture Sydney in all its contradictions: the bright and the dark, the joy and the struggle. It’s not just a showcase; it’s a love letter.
Let’s take a walk through the gallery.
In the first room, we are immediately hit with colour. Semi-abstract, but there's something familiar. One painting is a pool surrounded by tiling - Reflected Landscape - Deep Pool. Another feels like a view through a garden trellis (below). Beautiful colour. Things feel strange and familiar all at once.
In the back room, the journey begins in shadow. This space captures a decade of rebuilding—a time when Robert relearned painting and colour after his stroke, represented here by just six works. I keep mentally revisiting the feature piece, Harbour Marks. When I look at it I picture Robert working to reclaim the painter he once was, while quietly transforming into something newer and even greater. I see a man determined to create.
This painting inspires me to keep pushing. Lately, I've been so frustrated with colour. I know I need to take a class and just work through it but I keep making excuses for myself. It's much easier to draw, charcoal, or write. Robert's bouys are the perfect reminder to keep sailing forward with my practice.