Courtyard Sonder: Harry Rothel

The work itself is referenced from a postcard I discovered while clearing out cupboards at a former job in an auction house. The image was small and seemingly insignificant and I felt compelled to bring it back to life. Recreating it on an incredibly large scale gave it the presence it deserved.

As I enlarged the image, I was struck by a profound sense of sonder. The awareness that every passerby, every figure within the scene, carries an entire world of inner life, emotion, and experience. Each person moves through their own vivid and complex narrative, intersecting momentarily yet remaining uniquely their own.

This quiet contemplation seeing the collective as one, yet each individual as separate, forms the meditative core of the work. It invites reflection on the shared yet solitary nature of human existence, and on the beauty of the unnoticed lives that weave together the fabric of our everyday world. Something we rarely take the time to contemplate.

- Harry Rothel

Harry Rothel (b. 1995, Australia) is a multi-disciplinary artist who works across painting and sculpture. His work portrays an imaginative narrative and is mapping ideas of the human psyche. However, it can often be confrontational in exploring social conventions, politics, and the world he lives in. Macabre and extravagant themes run throughout his work accompanied by soft and stripped-down colours that create disquieting images. His use of overlapping themes of joy and horror, with the application of subtle and acerbic layers of stripped back paint construct somewhat eerie pictures that he hopes challenge the conventions of today. 

His recent exhibitions include: Corporeal, Edwina Corlette, Brisbane, Australia (2025)

Pareidolia amongst the trees, Ames Yavuz, Sydney, Australia (2023) Paralysing disproportions, Oigall Projects, Melbourne, Australia (2022)