Cameron Haas: Shape Shifting at Nancy Sever Gallery has non-figurative paintings

Although aged in his late 30s, Cameron Haas works like a young, emerging painter. He only graduated from the National Art School in Sydney in 2010 and subsequently has shifted to Canberra. My first encounter with his work was at this gallery in Canberra 12 months ago and now he has returned with another show of paintings.

Again, the paintings are mostly quite large, non-figurative acrylic canvases, this time with bold blocks of colour, rather than the hard-edge colour field paintings as in his previous show that had the slightly "retro'" look of abstraction of the 1960s.

The chronology of the two exhibitions is not completely clear. In last year's exhibition, if I recall correctly, all the work was dated 2018, while in the present show, most of the large work, all 'untitled', is dated 2019, while the smaller studies, all titled drawing, are dated 2016.

It appears that the two series happened concurrently, which again is not uncommon for a young emerging artist.

Haas appears more at home with organic forms, where the edges are fluid and an intuitive inner harmony is achieved. Although the surface is predominantly flat, it is not completely impersonal and there are signs of the human hand.

In a large square canvas, such as Untitled # 18 (2019), measuring 183 centimetres by 183 centimetres, the focus is on the intense irregular central oblong of orange that is nestled between the larger and more passive blocks of blue and black suspended within a white void.

The edges of the canvas are allowed to prevail allowing the forms to coexist within a defined two-dimensional space.

Part of the challenge is to achieve a structural balance in the composition with the juxtaposition of the colour masses, but, perhaps even more importantly, there is a desire to achieve an inner harmony within the implied surface tension.

Haas appears to be constantly redefining his edges and seems to be quite happy for the viewer to bear witness to these struggles.

The other successful large painting of the same dimensions, Untitled # 19 (2019), again plays with three colours - blue, green and quite an aggressive pink - again against a white void with a similar outer brown edge of the canvas trim, but this time in an armchair-like compositional arrangement.

The more passive passage of blue nestles the green and pink oblongs in its lap. The "mood" of the piece is quite different from the previous painting - it is slightly more playful and whimsical, there is something calm and tranquil about the work.

Haas writes about his process of work in this exhibition: "In preparatory drawing I have developed forms.

"Over time and many drawings these have become almost figurative in the way they sit and interact within the drawing and painting space.

"These compositions are transferred onto the canvas with large brushes and paint. I then work all the elements to a resolution constantly altering shape, line, edge, finish, colour and tone.

"Whilst the paint surface is flat, looking closer will reveal previous layers of colour and changes in edge quality as well as changes to the overall composition."

As with many emerging artists, Haas's exhibitions are about work in progress, where the artist's language is in the process of being defined and is still seeking its authentic voice.