Derived from underwater photographic encounters, these works move beyond the traditional print through processes of layering, surface manipulation and material experimentation. In Surfaces in Dialogue, the photograph becomes a starting point for transformation rather than a final image.
Liam Lynch
Shorthead Seahorse 2025 Photographic mixed media on archival paper
Derived from palladium print original
Proposed work for Storehouse Exhibition
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Shorthead Seahorse 2025 Photographic mixed media on archival paper
Derived from palladium print original
Proposed work for Storehouse Exhibition
"
Support Material Statement
This page contains project documentation and selected works relating to the development of Surfaces in Dialogue. The material presented here has been assembled to support exhibition planning, funding applications and curatorial review.
Surfaces in Dialogue is a developing body of work by Australian artist Liam Lynch exploring the transformation of photographic imagery through material intervention and architectural surface.
The project builds upon more than two decades of photographic field work and studio practice. Drawing from both archival imagery and newly produced photographs, the works are reinterpreted through processes of large-scale printing, surface manipulation, abrasion and layered material interventions. Through these processes, the photographic image shifts from a purely representational form into a physical object that carries traces of time, gesture and surface.
The works developed through this project will form the basis of a solo exhibition at Storehouse in October 2026. Presented within Storehouse’s hybrid gallery and interior environment, the exhibition will explore how photographic images can exist not only as framed prints but as material surfaces that interact with architectural space.
"Shorthead Seahorse Figure 1" ©LiamLynchPhotography ~Palladium print from the Dracones et Equorum series c. 2015
Surface detail Mixed media print development 'Omega Entombed'
Surface detail Mixed media print development 'Omega Entombed'
Artist Bio
Liam Lynch is an Australian artist working across photography, film and architectural-scale image-making. His practice explores the relationship between image, surface and environment, drawing on long-term environmental fieldwork and material experimentation.
Born in Victoria, Lynch began his career assisting leading Australian fashion and advertising photographers before working internationally across Los Angeles, Paris, Amsterdam and Auckland. This experience established the technical precision and production discipline that continue to underpin his practice.
Since establishing his Melbourne studio in the late 1990s, Lynch has collaborated with architects, designers and cultural organisations, producing photographic and film works that combine conceptual clarity with material rigour.
Alongside this professional practice, he has developed an independent body of fine art work informed by field experience across the Asia–Pacific region. His projects have taken him from the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo to the waters of the South Pacific, documenting fragile ecosystems and endangered species through patient observation and long-term engagement.
Working across large-scale pigment printing and traditional palladiotype processes, Lynch’s work explores the relationship between photographic image, material surface and presence. Recent projects extend this exploration beyond the framed image, investigating how ecological imagery can inhabit architectural and public space.
These investigations form the foundation for his current body of work, Surfaces in Dialogue.
His work has been exhibited internationally and published widely in both print and digital media, including Australian Geographic and Capture Magazine. His images are held in public and institutional collections including state and national libraries across Australia and the Oxford University Press Library.
Liam at work in the field beneath the surface: Photo by Mark Keenan
Original composit image design for Jellyfish ‘Ghost in the Current’ ©LiamLynchPhotography Proposed work for Storehouse Exhibition
Jellyfish ‘Ghost in the Current’
2026
Wall mural / large-format surface work
Wall mural / large-format surface work
Final touches to Jellyfish ‘Ghost in the Current’ ©LiamLynchPhotography
Exhibitions
Interviews/Reviews
“Like many traditional processes, palladium works need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Each print is a handmade one-off and totes an impressive tonal range, which seems fitting to do justice to the incredible natural beauty that Lynch’s images capture.”
- Lachlan Gardiner
Capture Magazine July/ August 2014
Zoneone Arts brings Liam Lynch to you… Interview by: Deborah Blakeley, Melbourne, Australia, January 2026
Conclusion
Surfaces in Dialogue investigates what happens when a photograph is released from the stability of the printed image and allowed to evolve through material intervention. Working from both archival and newly captured underwater photographs, Liam Lynch subjects the images to a series of physical translations—printing, layering, abrasion, and surface manipulation across paper, canvas and architectural substrates. Through this process the photograph becomes less a document and more a field of interaction, where texture, scale and material behaviour reshape the image over time. The resulting works occupy a space between photography, painting and object, allowing marine subjects to re-emerge through surface rather than representation.
"Visual Concept Only: Represents intended scale and aesthetic. Final artwork will be adapted to suit the architectural environment."