Well I've been back to see this exhibition a second time and I'm still rather ambivalent about my response to it.  This is the second time this New York artist has shown her work in Perth but there is more than the curiosity factor working here.  Let's put it this way, when she's good she's very good but when she misses, it's obvious.

Perhaps Ecker is 'trying on' WA, coming to grips with an environment that must be very different from the Big Apple.  If that's the case then she has, in many instances, succeeded.  Her landscapes are a delight and she seems to be spot on with the mulit-colours of the country.  And she captures both extremes of Australia - her small works are strong and emotive while the large works are light and airy.

I do like the way some of the large landscapes suggest looking down a road through the mist formed by the evaporation of rain water as the sun warms the ground.  And I applaud many of the images that (admittedly) borrow from past Masters.  The Rembrandt clone of a Woman Bathing is a beauty in its classic drawing and contemporary painting.  But there are others where faces are muted, figures are cut off or squashed against the top of the surface in a most uncomfortable manner.

I like the way Ecker uses her surface and media, she is playing with gold leaf, sketchy lines, and patches of paint.  But there are a few too many times where she over uses the charcoal and under uses the paint.  We are left to wonder when the artist will return to 'fix' it or 'finish' it.  I find it disconcerting on an artistic front.

All said and done, it's an interesting exhibition, quite different from the usual displays about town and one that maybe needs more time spent on the viewing.  Let's hope we have another opportunity to view Ecker's work as it's always interesting to see how others interpret our place.