He was supposed to be an architect. But, sometimes life takes you on an unexpected detour, to a great adventure. That’s the story of Robert Powell, an acclaimed Australian painter who spent four decades living in the Himalayas.
Santa Barbara cinematographer and Director Tom Piozet brings the story to life in the new documentary Enchanted Matter: The Art of Robert Powell.
"Robert Powell got through school early, and in 1973 was a young architect and didn't really want to go back to start his career. So, in '73 he helped put on the Australian version of Woodstock," said Piozet. "There were musicians from India there, and they invited him to come back to their festivals, and he took up their offer, and ended up meeting the Dali Lama in India."
Piozet said Powell was inspired by what he saw, and experienced. He says something bad which happened to Powell turned out to be a blessing. "The Tibetan kingdom of Ladakh, in the northern Indian Himalayas was going to open up to the outside world for the first time, and he thought I am going to do a book on Tibetan architecture," said Piozet. "He was all set to go up with his camera, and the night before he was leaving it was stolen. All he was left with was his architectural drawing pads. He had never done art before, but he learned to draw the buildings, and he got hired as an ethnographic draftsman for anthropologists who were doing books."
As Powell dove deeper into the region’s culture, he started painting. "He ended up getting all these jobs with the government, documenting new places, and buildings that were being restored. The rest is just history as far as his path. He became this amazing fine art painter," said the documentary's director.
Powell’s art was high acclaimed, leading to an exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington. D.C.
The artist decided he wanted to make a documentary about his life, and journey into art. The effort stalled, and that’s how the Santa Barbara director, and producer Geoff Rockwell became involved. Powell asked them to take over the project.
Here’s Powell, speaking in a clip from the film. "We are children of the European enlightenment. Science is the explanation of how the world is," said Powell. "The whole purpose of the enlightenment was to disenchant the world, to take away the magic, the gods, the demons, that terrified people all their lives long, and replace them with rationality. I think for everybody, art makes the world strange again."
The film made it’s world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Sadly, Powell, who was ill with tuberculosis even as work was underway on the documentary, didn’t live to see the premiere.
"I wasn't wanting to give away the ending of the movie that he's passed away, because a lot of people don't realize that, they kind of forget as they are watching the film," said Piozet. "It builds to a moment when you realize you are going to lose Rob. Anyone who knows him breaks down. I'm getting emotional right now just talking about it."
The documentary uses high resolution scans of some of Powell’s paintings, as well as animation which brings them to life, with an almost hypnotic impact.
Piozet talked about what he hopes audiences get from the documentary. "Robert says in the movie, he ponders, is life chance, or is it fate?"
The filmmaker is looking for a distributor for the documentary. While it has already premiered, there’s an encore screening of the film set for Saturday night, during the final night of the 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
