FOREWORD
Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches. And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say, “and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.”
Extract from When I am among the trees by Mary Oliver
Mary Tonkin is the archetypal plein air artist. She has a studio, but it is mostly a space for preparing materials, playing with collage and composition, or spending hours looking at the work she’s brought in from outside. Outside is where it all really happens. Outside is the bush, at Kalorama, where she lives in the lush Mountain Ash forests of the Dandenong Ranges, east of Melbourne. Tonkin describes it as the place where she had the ‘incredible good luck’ to be born; where her father grew rare bulbs and cut flowers on a farm surrounded by national park and is now in the family’s care under a strict conservation covenant. It is a place of deep connection for the artist – with nature, with time, and with herself.
Tonkin makes her art immersed deep within the bush - among the trees, within the hollows and undergrowth - surrounded by a complex ecosystem of plants and creatures evolved over millennia. While she works in the landscape, her art is as much a reflection of her inner life as it is about what she sees. It expresses something of what it is to stop, observe, listen, and slowly start to understand. Sitting amongst the trees to make a drawing or painting, or to simply to be present. This is what lies at the very heart of Mary Tonkin’s art.
In recent years Tonkin has started a working list of the animals and plants she has identified in the bush around her. It is divided into categories – Birds, Flora, Fungi & Lichen, Invertebrates, Frogs, Mammals, Reptiles, Fish & Crustaceans – and now numbers nearly five hundred organisms.
The list includes each creature or plant’s Woiwurrung/Wurundjeri name if known, recognising long-held systems of knowledge and recognition of Country. Each has a scientific Latin description, a reminder of the living flexibility and adaptability of a long-unspoken grammar and syntax. And then there are the poetic descriptors of common language which light the imagination, arousing a smile or spark of recognition.
White-throated needletail
Superb Fairy-wren
Love creeper
Cinnamon bells
Weeping grass
Mother shield-fern
Pixie parasol
Cowboy beetle
These common names activate our senses –visual and olfactory, auditory, tactile and taste – and suggest notions of behaviour and personality that we would ordinarily associate with human beings. The names help us hear the call of a creature or chart the erratic path taken by a beetle, envision the body-echoing shape of a plant or the slow progression of a fungus, recall the taste of a sweet treat in the scent of a blossom, or the vainglorious posturing of a buffoon in the strutting of a bird. The names demonstrate the ways we tend to seek and find ourselves in the world around us.
This exhibition takes its title from a poem by American poet Mary Oliver that speaks of an uplifting communion with nature. The selection presents nearly two decades of Mary Tonkin’s practice in drawing, painting and ceramics, which are for her deeply interconnected. Drawing is foundational to her practice and she uses it as a way of defining and realising her subjects for painting, as well as a discrete practice in itself. Regent, Kalorama 2012 charts the artist’s searching eye as it appraises the delicately cascading fronds of a tree fern, rendering them in shimmering traces of charcoal on paper. The addition of
watercolour to a graphite drawing, Blackfish hole dam (study III), Kalorama 2023, suggests the essence of its subject at one brief moment of the day, the urgent capture of light via colour a perennial task of the plein-airist.
Tonkin’s shallow three-dimensional works made in clay, which she started making around 2013 at the suggestion of ceramicist Shane Kent, are a way to play with pictorial space. She thinks of this process as akin to drawing for its capacity to convey her position in relation to forms around her. For this writer, works such as Copperhead, Kalorama 202123 call to mind the sculptural panels of Ghiberti’s Florentine Baptistery doors. Ghiberti’s bronze and Tonkin’s clay both contain worlds in shallow relief that we feel we can enter and navigate; both are sacred in their reverence and timeless wonder.
While both Tonkin’s drawings and ceramics are sparing in their palette, her paintings foreground colour, bringing a richness and complexity to her depictions of the bush. The most ambitious and spectacular of these is Coprosma Madonna, Kalorama 2021-22, a lightfilled secular altarpiece that speaks to what it is, in Tonkin’s words, ‘…to be present to the glory of this pocket of bush’. The frame is etched with names recorded on her biodiversity list, a gentle union of image and language that compels the viewer to approach the work from the sides, as well as from the front. In contrast, A scream, Kalorama 2023 brings us face to face with the monstrous form of an uprooted Manna Gum, ripped from the earth by catastrophic storms in 2021. The damage, wrought by nature but calling to mind human-induced climate change, is painted as it begins to heal – subsumed by fungi, grasses and even the delicate sprouts of new trees, its enveloping form harbouring water teeming with mosquito larvae and calling frogs. New life emerges from destruction, in the face of the Anthropocene. This painting is a cry of despair, but also of hope.
Mary Tonkin’s work continues a tradition of reverence for nature in the landscape that has a long lineage in Australian art. For her, it is deeply-felt and personal, and comes from an intimate engagement within it. Humble and cognisant of her relative insignificance within the ecosystem that she loves, Tonkin makes paintings and drawings of an ambition and scale that is rare in contemporary Australian art. While her skill is inarguable, it is her capacity to place us all within her world that is her greatest achievement.
Anne Ryan, Curator of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Coprosma Madonna, Kalorama 2021-22 oil on linen 320 x 610 cm
By a thread, Kalorama I 2025 oil on birch ply 60 x 60 cm
By a thread, Kalorama II 2025 oil on birch ply 60 x 60 cm
By a thread, Kalorama III 2025 oil on birch ply 60 x 60 cm
By a thread, Kalorama IV 2025 oil on birch ply 60 x 60 cm
Madre, Kalorama
Broken,
Above: Regent, Kalorama 2012 charcoal on paper 241 x 271 cm
Left: Regalia, Kalorama 2020-21 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm
Lyre, Kalorama
Hot kiss, Kalorama 2021 oil on linen
183 x 214 cm
Hot kiss, Kalorama (detail) in progress in the studio
Beleaguered II, Kalorama (after Sassetta: St Anthony the Hermit Tortured by the Devils 1423) 2019 oil on linen 50 x 59 cm
Beleaguered III, Kalorama (after Sassetta: St Anthony the Hermit Tortured by the Devils 1423) 2019 oil on linen 50 x 59 cm
Plunge in, Kalorama 2019 oil on linen 180 x 180 cm
Cradle, Kalorama 2009 oil on linen 42 x 63 cm
Did you hear? Kalorama 2009 oil on linen 36 x 74 cm
A scream, Kalorama 2023 oil on linen 214 x 366 cm
A scream, Kalorama 2023
Penny Bangers, Kalorama 2010 oil on linen 46 x 76 cm
Out there, Kalorama 2020 Oil on birch ply board 60 x 60 cm
By the edge, Kalorama I 2024 oil on birch ply 60 x 60 cm
By the edge, Kalorama II 2024 oil on birch ply 60 x 60 cm
By the edge, Kalorama III 2024 oil on birch ply 60 x 60 cm
By the edge, Kalorama IV 2024 oil on birch ply 60 x 60 cm
Cheshire
Solo, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 53 x 56 cm
Wattle stars, Kalorama 2014 oil on linen 54 x 64 cm
That’s how the light gets in, Kalorama 2012 oil on linen
117 x 80 cm
Blackfish hole dam (study III), Kalorama 2023 graphite, watercolour and collage on polypropylene paper 30 x 21 cm
Frond, Kalorama 2020 porcelain paper clay 24 x 25 x 8 cm
Copperhead, Kalorama 2021-24 porcelain paper clay 49 x 53 x 8 cm
Around the edge, Kalorama I 2024 watercolour, gouache, pencil and collage on birch ply 60 x 120 cm
Around the edge, Kalorama II 2024 watercolour, gouache, pencil and collage on birch ply 60 x 120 cm
Around the edge, Kalorama III 2024 watercolour, gouache, pencil and collage on birch ply 60 x 120cm
Around the edge, Kalorama IV 2024 watercolour, gouache, pencil and collage on birch ply
60 x 130 cm
Above: Between here and there, Kalorama 2023 pencil on paper 56 x 66 cm
Right: Between showers, Kalorama 2024 oil on linen 58 x 61 cm
Ripples, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 71 x 80 cm
Winter solstice, Kalorama 2024 oil on linen 61 x 59 cm
Above: Turmoil, Kalorama in progress in the studio
Left: Turmoil, Kalorama 2025 oil on linen 214 x 274 cm
Born 1973, Melbourne, Australia
1992-94
1995
1996
1998
1999-2004
2000-02
Solo Exhibitions
2026
Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts), Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University, Melbourne
Bachelor of Arts – Honours (Fine Arts), Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University, Melbourne
Sessional Lecturer (Drawing), Ceramic Department, Monash University, Melbourne
Sessional Lecturer (Drawing), Monash University, Frankston, VIC
Summer School and Fall Semester, New York Studio School, New York
Sessional Lecturer (Drawing), Faculty of Art and Design, Monash University, Melbourne
Master of Arts by Research (Fine Arts), Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University, Melbourne
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, ‘Among the Trees’
2025 Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla VIC, ‘Rambles’
2024 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Both Sides Now’
2022 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair with Australian Galleries, Sydney
2020 Whitehorse Art Space, Melbourne, ‘Ramble’
2019 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Ramble’
2017 Australian Galleries, Sydney, ‘Between the dams’
2015 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Two spots’
2013 Australian Galleries, Sydney, ‘A short walk’
2012 Latrobe Regional Art Gallery, Morwell, VIC, ‘Black paintings’
2011 Australian Galleries with Burrinja Gallery, Upwey, VIC, ‘Home 2000-2010’
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Black paintings’
2009 Australian Galleries, Sydney, ‘Shall we?’
2007 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Near the Top Dam’
2005
Australian Galleries, Sydney, ‘Recent Painting’
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Recent Painting’
2003 Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1999 Victoria University Gallery, Melbourne, ‘Recent Drawings’
Group Exhibitions
2025 Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Cowra, NSW, ‘Calleen Art Award’
Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, Hadley’s Art Prize
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, ‘Salon des Refusés’
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Assemblage’
2024
2023
2022
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, ‘Salon des Refusés’
McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, VIC, Rick Amor Drawing Prize
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Ceramics’
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, ‘Salon des Refusés’
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, ‘Salon des Refusés’
Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, Hadley’s Art Prize
2021–22 Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey, VIC, ‘For the Love of Trees’
2021
Hawkesbury Art Prize, Hawkesbury, NSW
Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey, VIC, ‘The Ranges / 3 Perspectives: Mary Tonkin, Fred Williams and Miles Evergood’
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, ‘Tree of Life: a testament to endurance’
Deakin University Art Gallery, Melbourne, ‘The Big Tree and Other Landscapes from the Whitehorse Art Collection’
Defiance Gallery, Sydney, ‘The AWC Mount Zero Exhibition’
Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, ‘Hadley’s Art Prize’
2020 Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Cowra, NSW, ‘Calleen Art Award’
Menzies Art Brands, Sydney, ‘Paddington Art Prize’
2019 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Australian Galleries: The Purves Family Business. The First Four Decades’, Book Launch and Group Exhibition
Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, ‘Hadley’s Art Prize’
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘papermade’
2018
Special Group Studios, Sydney, ‘A Painted Landscape’
Silver Leaf Art Box, Merricks, VIC, ‘Native Flora’
2017 Mr Kitly Gallery, Melbourne, ‘Plein – air’
2015
Marlene Antico Fine Art, Sydney, ‘Paddington Art Prize’
2014 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘one of each’
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Australia Day 2014 Celebratory Exhibition’
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, ‘Drawing Out, Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial’
2013 National Art School Gallery, Sydney, ‘Contemporary Australian Drawing: 20 years of the Dobell Prize for Drawing and the Dobell legacy’
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Australia Day 2013 Celebratory Exhibition’
Gallows Gallery, Perth, ‘Australian Galleries at Gallows Gallery’
2012 Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney, ‘Australia Day 2012: The great Australian Landscape’
2012-13
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Summer Stock Show’
2011 Australian Galleries, Sydney and Melbourne, ‘large exhibition of small works’
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Australia Day 2011: Celebration’
2010 National Art School Gallery, Sydney, ‘Blake Prize’
2009-10
Kedumba Gallery, Wentworth Falls, NSW, ‘Kedumba Prize for Drawing’
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Summer Stock Show’
2009 Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne
2008
La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre, Bendigo, VIC, ‘Prospect and Refuge: Small Landscapes by Five Painters’
Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, VIC, ‘John Leslie Landscape Art Prize’
Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Horsham, VIC, ‘Prospect and Refuge: Small Landscapes by Five Painters’
2007 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Small Pleasures’
2006
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Stock Show’
Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, ‘Redlands Westpac Art Prize’
Fleurieu Peninsula Art Prize, McLaren Vale, SA
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘50th Anniversary Exhibition’
2005 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Notes from the Natural World’
2004 Australian Galleries, Melbourne, ‘Panorama’
2002
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, ‘Dobell Drawing Prize Exhibition’
Australian Galleries, Sydney, ‘Landscapes’
2001 Faculty Gallery, Monash University, Melbourne, ‘Drawing’
1998
1996
1995
McKee Gallery, New York, USA, ‘Absolute Secret New York’
New York Studio School, New York, USA, ‘Fall Student Exhibition’
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, ‘1996 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize’
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC, ‘Drawing from the Visible – New Artists’
Charles Hewitt Gallery, Sydney, ‘Radical Choice – Twelve Figurative Painters’
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC, ‘Spring Festival of Drawing Survey Exhibition 1973-1995’
Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne, ‘Monash Painting Graduates “Opening Exhibition”’
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC, ‘Mornington Peninsula Spring Festival of Drawing’
1994 George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, ‘The Victorian Campus Art Prize Exhibition’
Awards
2025 Hadley’s Orient Hotel, TAS, Hadley’s Art Prize (Finalist)
Cowra Regional Art Gallery, NSW, Calleen Art Award (Finalist)
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, Salon des Refusés, Holding Redlich People’s Choice Award
2022
2010
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, Salon des Refusés, Holding Redlich People’s Choice Award
Kedumba Prize for Drawing, Wentworth Falls, NSW
2002 Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Dobell Drawing Prize
2000-02
1995
1994
Grants
1998
Monash University, Melbourne, Australian Post-Graduate Award
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Trustees Award
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Trustees Award
Victoria Campus Art Prize, VIC
Robert Greenberg Fees Grant, New York Studio School, New York, USA
1996 Elizabeth Greenshield’s Foundation Grant, New York Studio School, New York, USA
Collections
Melbourne Club, Melbourne
ANZ Bank, Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Australia Catholic University, Melbourne
City of Whitehorse, Melbourne
Deakin University, Melbourne
Kedumba Collection of Contemporary Australian Drawing, Wentworth Falls, NSW
Lowenstein Sharp
Monash University, Melbourne
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (Margaret Stewart Foundation)
Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, VIC
UNSW Art Collection, The University of New South Wales, Sydney
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
An exhibition such as this would not be possible without the support and assistance from the following individuals and organisations:
Mary Tonkin
Stuart Purves AM, National Director Australian Galleries, Sydney and Melbourne
Veronica Mullin, Gallery Manager, Australian Galleries Melbourne
Thank you to Australian Galleries for their assistance in negotiations with those private collectors who have generously loaned works to the exhibition.
Jane Watters
Director, S H Ervin Gallery
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Published on the occasion of the exhibition
Mary Tonkin: Among the Trees
3 January – 1 March 2026
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Opened by Anne Ryan, Curator of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales www.shervingallery.com.au
Images © Mary Tonkin
Text © Anne Ryan
Design by EAR Studio
Mary Tonkin is represented by Australian Galleries, Melbourne and Sydney
A USTRALIAN G ALLERIES
This catalogue is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher.
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
National Library of Australia
ISBN: 978-0-6483847-5-5
Published by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) 2026
Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000
© National Trust of Australia (NSW) S.H. Ervin Gallery
