Justin Lees is a natural storyteller. He has a gift for words and descriptive narratives, and a bundle of real-life experiences to draw from.
Always into art and design, he started on the path of running his own clothing design businesses. But in recent years, he's turned his attention to full-time art, letting his art do the talking, releasing a strong flow of abstract expressionism works to critical and commercial success.
A year after opening his gallery in Hamilton - Wester Gallery - he will hold his first solo show next week in the space, I Saw Your Ghost Tonight, an evocative tribute to his father, Max Lees, a respected and successful horse trainer who died 20 years ago.
The 18 works include a set of 10 abstract portraits of jockeys wearing the colours of horses who stirred great memories of Max Lees, including Luskin Star, County Tyrone, Cardiff Prince and Carry On Mate.
Luskin Star won the Golden Slipper by seven lengths in 1977. County Tyrone raced in the Melbourne Cup. Cardiff Prince was Max's first winner. Carry On Mate was his last winner.
Two major works feature Max Lees' moments, including the day he fell from a horse (St Patrick's Day 1971), ending his career as a jockey.
Another set of large abstractions demonstrate Justin Lees' abstract style at its best, created from a playlist, evoking his emotions, as he lays layer upon layer of expressing colour on to canvases.
"These are my style, large stroke abstract pieces, what I usually work in," Lees says.
"Usually what I do is create a playlist that goes with everything, and then try to make the playlist conjure up memories and emotions and stuff like that.
"That dictates the colours, the intensity of the brushstrokes, and everything.
"So the playlist keeps changing. Some things don't work, so I get rid of it."
Two of those works are an expression of how Lees felt about his father's death, which was a sudden downward spiral caused by cancer. "They are memories of how I felt," he says. "One's a bit darker than the other, that's how I felt when dad was getting sick. The anger I had, the memories I had, which were all good."
Another of the abstracts conjures up memories of fun times at the family home, on Lowe Street, Broadmeadow, with horse stables behind the home, and a short walk across a field to the race track.
"It used to be open land and you could drive through to the race track," he says.
"So, growing up, I had all that to play with. House, stables directly behind it, a road down to track, and all green grass and then the race course. Yellow brick house. Narrow road. Dirt track around to behind the stables. Lined with big pine trees, pine cones everywhere on the ground... two pine trees, like goalposts.
"Gates at the 200-metre mark of the track. I learned to kick goals, played footy there."
Justin had to work in the stables as a youth. "Yes, as a kid I had to pick up horseshit," he says, describing how one of the stable hands told him to ditch the shovel and just scoop it up by hand because it was much quicker. He worked up to preparing feed and overseeing the morning walks of the million-dollar horses.
While the racing game wasn't for him ("The early mornings weren't for me... There would be times when Dad would be going to work and I'd be coming home."), he's definitely got racing in his blood.
"Anyone has to know Luskin Star's story," he says, working his way into a story. "I never saw it run. I've seen the videos. Every time the Golden Slipper comes around I get it up on YouTube and show the kids. I make the kids watch racing, especially on a Saturday. Next minute I'm having a punt, then screaming at the TV, they're running for cover because they don't know what's going on. But then, when we get takeout at night, they know I've won. Otherwise, it's spaghetti on toast."
Of course, he has skin in the game, with interest in a couple of horses trained by his brother, Kris Lees, who took over the horse training business upon Max Lees' death.
Justin's show closes on August 26, exactly 20 years to the day of his father's death. It will be celebrated with family and close friends at the gallery.
