Design and Art Australia Online

Artist and architect Peter Poulet was born in May 1960 in Sydney, NSW, to Russian immigrant parents Eugene and Natalie Poulet. His interest in painting and drawing since childhood led Poulet to study architecture at the University of Sydney between 1979 and 1984, where he gained a Bachelor of Science (Architecture) and a Bachelor of Architecture. It was during these years that Poulet became interested in sustainability, ultimately leading to his serving on the Royal Australian Institute of Architects NSW Chapter Council’s 'Sustainability and Education Committee’.

Remarkably, Poulet’s final thesis for his degree at university was comprised of a group of paintings. These paintings would later be recommended by Marr Grounds, senior lecturer of architecture, to Frank Watters of Watters Gallery in East Sydney. In 1986, the Watters Gallery hosted Poulet’s first exhibition of works which explored themes of the urban/built environment and its imposition on the natural world.

After finishing study in 1984 and graduating in 1985, Poulet worked for some private architectural firms before taking an architect post in the NSW Government Architect’s Office. He remained there from 1985 until 1987. In 1988, having been awarded the prestigious Monobusho Japanese Government Fellowship with a focus on the study of Japanese art and architecture, Poulet travelled to Japan to undertake postgraduate study in architecture at the University of Tokyo. He was enrolled there for two years before working with Japanese architect Toyo Ito. Poulet’s time in Japan and working with Ito encouraged him to engage with architecture as an art form.

In 1989, having returned to Sydney to be with his partner Elizabeth Hogan, who was pregnant with their first child, Poulet resumed his position at the Government Architect’s Office and was later appointed Assistant Government Architect.

Since his first exhibition, Poulet has been a well-received and prolific artist. He has shown his work regularly at the Watters Gallery and since his 2007 show at Christine Abrahams Gallery has been represented in Melbourne too. He was also honoured as Artist in Residence at Bundanon in 1999 and at the New England Regional Art Museum in 2002. His work is held in the collections of the major law firms Allen Arthur Robinson and Baker & McKenzie, and also in the University of New South Wales, Artbank, the Manly Hydraulics Laboratory, and the Bundanon Trust.

Poulet’s abstract paintings use colour, fluidity of line, and the juxtaposition of forms to create new environments. His work is influenced by nature and natural phenomenon – light, air, the feeling of space, enclosure and human interaction with nature – giving his art an organic sentiment. His body of work has evolved to explore more complex relationships between objects and forms as he brings in more from the outside world into his pieces. Introduced elements reflect his ideas about the world and include thoughts that were present from the earliest works, thus maintaining continuity of influence and motivation – nature and expression of his feelings and emotions. This awareness of nature is also crucial to his architecture and his interest in sustainability.

Throughout his life, there has been a constant sense of exchange between his architectural and art practices. He credits his architectural training with giving him the discipline to work to a deadline and still be inventive and creative. Similarly, his art contributes greatly to his practice of architecture giving him inspiration and a more painterly approach to his design.

Although historically his art and architecture have occupied very different places there appears to be a convergence occurring. This was exemplified by the Concrete House for the 'Houses of the Future’ exhibition for sustainable design in 2005, where he used his painting to bring out the free form of the design.

Poulet lives in Sydney, NSW, with his wife Elizabeth and their five children.

Writers:

De Lorenzo, Catherine Note:
Livingstone, Elizabeth Note:

Date written:

2011

Last updated:

2011

Status:

peer-reviewed