Why Every Home Needs a Soul: What art does that furniture never can
As an artist, I'm often asked how to choose art for a home. It's an interesting question because, in truth, I've never really thought about art as something you choose in the same way you choose a sofa or a dining table.
You can assess furniture objectively. It needs to fit the space, perform a function and withstand daily life. Art operates entirely differently. It doesn't need to solve a problem. It doesn't need to justify its existence. It simply needs to make you feel something.
And perhaps that's why it matters so much.
I've spent most of my life surrounded by art. I studied at the College of Fine Arts, I paint, I collect, and I spend far too much time wandering through galleries whenever I travel. Over the years I've learnt that while beautiful homes can be created through good design, the homes that stay with us usually have something more elusive.
They have personality. They have memory. They have soul.
And more often than not, art is at the centre of that.
I think we sometimes underestimate the role art plays in our everyday lives. We tend to think of it as decorative, something that sits on a wall and completes a room. But art has always done much more than that. It tells stories. It records history. It reflects culture. It provokes thought and emotion. It helps us understand who we are and where we belong.
When we choose to live with a piece of art, we're inviting those things into our homes.
The artworks I've collected over the years are connected to specific moments in my life. Some remind me of places I've travelled. Others of exhibitions that left an impression. Some were purchased when I had very little money and represented months of saving. Others were exchanged between artist friends. Every piece carries a story, and over time those stories become woven into the fabric of home and my life.
That's why I've always found it difficult when people ask whether art should match the sofa.
The sofa will eventually be replaced.
The artwork is often what stays.
In many ways, art becomes the personality of a home. It reveals our interests, our values, our sense of curiosity and our willingness to be moved by something. It tells visitors something about us before we've even spoken.
I also think that's why original art feels increasingly important right now.
We're living in an era of extraordinary visual consumption. Every day we're exposed to thousands of images. Algorithms serve us more of what we've already seen. Trends move faster than ever. Artificial intelligence can generate endless variations of beauty at the click of a button.
Yet despite all of this abundance, many things feel strangely similar. The same colours. The same aesthetics. The same carefully curated versions of taste.
Original art offers something different. It carries the hand of its maker. It contains evidence of process, experimentation, failure and discovery. It reminds us that creativity isn't about perfection; it's about perspective.
As a collector of Australian art, this feels particularly important. Some of the pieces I treasure most aren't significant because of their monetary value. They're significant because they capture a place, a landscape, a feeling or a point of view that feels uniquely connected to this country. They tell stories about where we are and who we are.
And perhaps that's what every home needs.
Not more things. Not more styling. Not another trend.
Just a deeper connection to the people, places and stories that matter to us.
Because while good design can make a home beautiful, art has the power to make it meaningful. It gives a home depth. Character. Emotion.
It reminds us that a home isn't simply somewhere we live.
It's somewhere we tell the story of our lives.