We read plenty about how technology is changing the way that we do business, but it is also changing age-old cultural traditions. In the visual arts, the way that artists become known, promote themselves and interact with the world is increasingly multi-faceted. If there is a new paradigm outside the central platforms of magazines, galleries and reviews, it seems that young artists like Dane Lovett are inventing it for themselves.

[Dane Lovett, Here are the major attractions, 2006, Acrylic and enamel on cut ply, 220 x 350 x 12cm. Courtesy the artist]

At age 13, Dane had a website (which is still viewable).

By 21, shortly after graduating from university with a degree in animation, he was successful as a largely self-taught painter (with all of the usual trappings - he was named in the press as an artist to watch, his work was both well reviewed and sold). After travel in Europe, seeing as much as he could manage, he finds himself, at 22, back in formal education, albeit in Melbourne rather than Brisbane.

 To have so much attention so young provides its own challenges, and for Lovett, a chance to take the pressure back a level and follow his research interests became a priority after three successful shows in 2006. So far his attentions have been captured by German artist Luc Tuymans and the process of observational painting.

His subject matter is tuned to the everyday. Presently he is focussed on snapshots of family and friends caught in the moment, images also reflected in the modesty of the paint, which is pared back and more minimal than before. 

"I'm looking to bring something trivial and to present it in this glorified way, making an attraction out of minor events in my own life." He hopes contextualising his own practice will carry him through his honours year at the Victorian College of the Arts.

So for the future, we might say don't just watch this space, but also cyberspace. With wide-ranging skills and talent, and as a member of the You-Tube generation, the only certainty is that Lovett will be propelling his own vehicle forward.