Land & Light

A COLLECTIVE EXPLORATION

LAND & LIGHT

A Collective Exploration

May 1 - May 25, 2025

Salt Contemporary

33-35 Hesse Street

Queenscliff, Victoria

Front: Sophie Perez, Eugenella (detail), 2025, oil on canvas, 180x150cm

Left: Holly Grace, First Light, Mount Gudgenby (detail), 2025, blown glass with powder and metal leaf surfaces and sandblasted landscape imagery, 24x37x37cm

EXHIBITING ARTISTS

HOLLY GRACE

PHILLIP EDWARDS

SOPHIE PEREZ

ABOUT

Land & Light explores the human relationship with the natural landscape through a variety of mediums: oil, watercolour and glass.

Each artist, differing in their practice, has illustrated their individual connection to land and its ever-present facets. Shifting light, energetic colours, a sense of timelessness and history of those who have been before. These interpretations call us to reflect on our own relationship with nature, a fundamental dialogue between self and essence of place.

This exhibition honours the collective soul of the environment. A celebration of the shared experience of the world around us.

HOLLY GRACE

Human interaction with nature has always been a strong theme in my work. I grew up in Perth, Australia; a city of extreme isolation where nature is a beautiful, yet harsh reality. The dividing line between the urban and natural landscapes was small and constantly changing.

I gained an early respect for, and fascination with, nature by watching this interaction through windows that created a transparent division between the controlled and uncontrolled landscapes. Glass has continued to be the way I interpret the dynamic relationship between the two realms: control and randomness, city grids and the Fibonacci sequence, urban planning and natural selection.

“Sometimes I wish I was born in the age of exploration, I could imagine myself being a naturalist travelling the coastline of Australia and documenting all that I saw.”

Holly Grace, First Light, Mount Gudgenby, 2025, blown glass with glass powder and metal leaf surfaces and sandblasted landscape imagery, 24x37x37cm | $5,500

Holly Grace, Dawn, the Namadgi, 2025, blown glass with glass powder and metal leaf surfaces and sandblasted landscape imagery, 19x26x26cm | $2,500

Holly Grace, The golden hour, Thredbo Valley, 2025, blown glass with glass powder and metal leaf surfaces and sandblasted landscape imagery, 19x29x29cm | $2,500

Holly Grace, Erskine River, 2025, blown glass fire polished with gold lustre surfaces and sandblasted imagery, 19x29x29cm | $1,800

Left: Holly Grace, Southern Ocean (I/II), 2025, blown glass fire polished with gold lustre surfaces and sandblasted imagery, 19x29x29cm | $2,000

Right: Holly Grace, Southern Ocean (II/II), 2025, blown glass fire polished with gold lustre surfaces and sandblasted imagery, 15x25x25cm | $1,600

PHILLIP EDWARDS

Over the past eight years Phillip has focussed on the medium watercolour; producing large scale majestic landscapes of Mt Buffalo, Tasmania’s wilderness, and many varied sights across the dry inland.

He was awarded the Trustees Watercolour Prize at the 2018 Wynne prize and has since been made a member of the Australian Watercolour Institute.

Phillip has been a finalist in many Australian art prizes including the Wynne, Calleen, Flow, Lester Portrait Prize, and the Pro Hart Outback Prize at Broken Hill Regional Gallery.

Throughout his 30 years art practice, Phillip has continued to refine both his painting and sculptural practice. He is dedicated to the medium of watercolour and aims to lift the stature of the medium within the fine art world.

Phillip Edwards, The Mingle of Past and Present, 2024, watercolour, 130x105cm | $4,700

Phillip Edwards, Mungo Past and Present, 2025, watercolour mixed media on Arches hot pressed, 130x105cm | $4,700

Right: Phillip Edwards, Quiet Stones, 2025, watercolour mixed media on Arches hot pressed, 130x71cm | $3,200

Left: Phillip Edwards, Mornings Quiet Dialogue, 2025, watercolour mixed media on Arches hot pressed, 130x71cm | $3,200

Phillip Edwards, Mutaintjil Mystical Beings, 2025, watercolour mixed media on Arches hot pressed, 87x68cm | $1,700

Left: Phillip Edwards, Elders Past and Present, 2023, watercolour mixed media on Arches hot pressed, 87x68cm | $1,700

Right: Phillip Edwards, Mutaintjil Mystical Beings, 2025, watercolour mixed media on Arches hot pressed, 87x68cm | $1,700

SOPHIE PEREZ

As an artist, my practise has been a colorful exploration, intimately entwined with the expressive power of paint—a medium that speaks to me with its infinite possibilities. My work is a reflection of the diverse environments I’ve encountered, from my love of running and being in nature.

Driven by intuition and a profound connection to the world, I approach each canvas as a dialogue between myself and the essence of place. Each brushstroke is a visceral response, an attempt to capture the rhythm and spirit of the landscape rather than a mere representation.

For me, painting transcends observation - it’s an invitation to connect with the beauty and complexity of our surroundings. Through my obsession to paint, I seek to forge meaningful connections that bridge the gap between artist and audience, celebrating the shared experience of the world around us.