Bruce Summers was born in Melbourne, Australia. Growing up on a secluded property in rural Victoria, he looked to the environment around him, using creativity and craft as a distraction from isolation. In his early teens, Bruce relocated to Queensland where he was exposed to a vastly different landscape. There he began painting and drawing in his spare time, making canvases from wood scraps and calico.
Bruce has had a long-time fascination with the natural environment.
Initially using leftover marker refills, the artist discovered a love for the organic and unpredictable nature of ink. Trialing various techniques, Bruce began a series of ink dot works based on Australian native flora. However, following a trip to Mount Martha where he was in awe of the masses drawn to the natural rock formation and incredible turquoise water, he was inspired to attempt to recreate this in his works. Using a photo he had taken as a reference Bruce realised the ability to mimic the natural flow of the land and water, sparking his first series BODIES.
Bruce was born in Melbourne, Australia. Growing up on a secluded property in rural Victoria, he looked to the environment around him, using creativity and craft as a distraction from isolation. In his early teens, Bruce relocated to Queensland where he was exposed to a vastly different landscape. There he began painting and drawing to pass time, making canvases from wood scraps and calico.
Bruce has had a long-time fascination with the natural environment, anthropology and the human mind.
Exploring the connection and similarities between human emotion and our fluid natural environment, Bruce creates works based on actual locations as well as manifestations of emotion using a technique developed to mimic fluidity texture and movement using a combination of pigment and alcohol ink at scale.