This research entitled Images of the urban experience in contemporary painting began as an investigation into the consequences of urbanism such as human alienation and personal detachment. As a studio based research, this practice was based on five individual exhibitions of contemporary paintings accompanied by four underlying theoretical exegeses. These components together with the involvement in various group exhibitions, awards and professional practice documented in a research portfolio were developed over a three-year period. As each series of paintings was exhibited, new priorities and directions were established. These developments ranged from documentation of the decline in the conscious organisation of urban life images to the utilisation of media and techniques to promote greater fluidity and painting spontaneity. The theme of human alienation in this investigation developed into a focus on the existential predicament of place-bereft individuals. As the nature of location was brought into focus, an exploration of the influence and question of place emerged. This concept gave rise to an investigation into place-panic or human anxiety at the prospect of an unknown place. / Doctor of Creative Art