Travelling at Night
Lyn Harrison's work is difficult to categorise. She has sometimes been called a Surrealist, because her paintings often depict unlikely events such as a horse confidently navigating a red boat. However her style of painting is markedly different to the works of Surrealists such as Dali or Magritte who employed a super-realistic technique to try to convince the viewer that this bizarre world of melting watches and burning giraffes is actually real.
To my mind the super-realistic technique of Dali, derived from the Renaissance, actually has the opposite effect in that it demonstrates the marked difference between the world as we normally see it and the peculiar nature of the content of the paintings. Rather than responding with a feeling of gratitude that we have been permitted to view the world in a strangely new and beautiful way, the viewer is more likely to feel a vague irritation at the theatricality and contrivance of the scene depicted. 
Lyn Harrison has developed a style which is far more  subjective in that she employs multiple perspectives, heightened colour, extreme distortions and her own cast of recurring characters all of which are comfortable expressions of her own inner world.
Her new exhibition of acrylic paintings which will open at the Nolan on Lovel Gallery on March 12th is called "Travelling at Night". As depictions of that strange domain where many people experience flying dreams or are even shocked to realise that they are dreaming and yet inhabiting a different slice of reality, they are totally convincing. The fact is that while we are dreaming we usually accept the most bizarre events as being quite normal or even commonplace. It is only later, on reflection, that we think: "oh that was totally weird".
In paintings such as Listening to the Nightbird, or She Spoke to the Falcon, Lyn Harrison's style and content make a perfect unity. They convince us ,just as a dream convinces us. They are authentic glimpses into a rich inner world.
Lyn Harrison has been exhibiting her work for many years now and has established a reputation as one of Australia's most unique and respected painters. This present exhibition will indicate that she is also amongst that fortunate breed of artists whose work becomes deeper and stronger as they get older.
​                                                                                                                              Edwin Johnson
Travelling at Night will open on Saturday March 12th 2-4 pm and will continue until March 28th 2016
                                                                            Nolan on Lovel Gallery
                                                                            56A Lovel St
                                                                            Katoomba NSW 2780
                                                                            t: 02 47826231