David Usher is a Brisbane born Toowoomba based artist who holds a Doctorate from the University of Southern Queensland – his area of research is ‘the Spook’.

David explains, ‘the Spook occurs in an artwork through the culmination of a series of elements – of the application of composition, colour and light… The artist develops an intuitive awareness or knowledge about their arts practice to gain a sense of the overall feeling of the work in front of them, to ascertain whether the composition, or ‘feel’ of the work has reached the moment when it has a kind of magic about it.’ David’s work captures the essence, or emotion within a landscape, and in doing so, embodies the feeling or experience of the Spook.

There is a wealth of theoretical research David has engaged with, he has recently co-authored an essay titled ‘Notions of the Spook and the Role of the Studio: Considerations of Space and the Sensory Experiences of Producing Art’.

The thing that is special about this research is that it is a theoretical discussion of something that is felt. The instinctive landscapes are a direct translation of David’s physical experience in a landscape, his experience is captured and transferred to be read as the Spook in his paintings/ceramics.

David has shown with several galleries including Doggart and ALG, and has work in collections including Queensland Art Gallery, Artbank, Brisbane City Hall Gallery and Queensland Potters Association.