ARTS FESTIVAL
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
2022
Daphne Mayo (b.1895 - d.1982) enjoys a prominent role in Australian art history as a sculptor of great repute in a tradition that was, at the time, largely male dominated. A St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School Old Girl, her legacy and her contribution to the cultural fabric of this city continues to endure. Mayo quite literally made her mark on Brisbane through her ambitious large scale sculptural works for the city, not the least of which is Daphne’s renowned sculpture work featured on prominent Brisbane landmarks including on the façade of Brisbane City Hall and the historically significant Women’s Memorial, Anzac Square, completed between 1929 and 1930. Daphne Mayo died on 31 July 1982 with many considerable achievements to her name. It is her spirit of independence and determination that the MAYO Arts Festival celebrates.
ANNA MARKEY Anna Markey’s enduring passion for ceramics emerged early in life, with her returning to her craft in early 2016 under the expert tutoring of Ray Cavill. Anna’s current work is focused on utilitarian pieces which have value in your everyday life. Anna explores various clay bodies, sensing their purpose, depending on structure, to establish whether wheel-based, slab throwing or slip work will be the best technique to bring the idea of place to the object. A recent focus on combining clay bodies and glazes together in a softer and more tactile manner has seen Anna bring together materials that have come from the earth to ground us.
JOHN BRIGHENTI John Brighenti is a Brisbane-based ceramic artist creating wheel thrown sculptural and functional work that often incorporates natural textures and materials with classical ceramic forms. A native of Connecticut, USA, John completed his ceramics apprenticeship in 2000, and has since worked and lived on four continents as a diplomat, agriculturalist, and artist. This experience is reflected in his work, which seeks to integrate uniquely local materials into ceramic forms with diverse roots ranging from Greek amphorae to Japanese tea ceremonies. Using refined shapes to contrast the often untamed nature of raku processes and foraged materials continually keeps him challenged and engaged with his ceramics and sculptural practice. John serves on the board of Ceramic Arts Queensland and works and teaches out of his studio in Indooroopilly, Queensland.
PETER BIDDULPH Peter Biddulph’s work in ceramics spans eighteen years and utilises both conventional techniques of wheel throwing, hand building and slip casting, as well as digital techniques of 3D modelling and rapid prototyping. He often uses Southern Ice porcelain but also create works in coarse, dark, iron-rich stoneware. Peter has been invited to exhibit internationally in the UK, USA, Spain and Japan, as well as in Australia, and his work is now in private and public collections. His work has won awards both in Australia and overseas, and articles have been published in ceramics journals internationally and in the book Porcelain by Vivienne Foley. Vases from his collections have been purchased by Sogetsu Ikebana teachers for Ikebana displays in QAGOMA and in the Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha. Iceberg 3 was carved from a solid block of porcelain and reduction fired in a gas kiln to achieve this ice blue qingbai glaze. Eclipse was selected along with 40 other works for a solo exhibition in Brisbane Square Library in 2021.
KAYO YOKOYAMA Japanese glass artist Kayo Yokoyama is heavily influenced by the landscapes of her home country, as well as her adopted home country of Australia. Kayo emigrated to Australia in 1997 to pursue her dream of studying art; it was this move that inspired her to embrace her inherited culture, after rejecting it as a child in favour of the more dominant Western culture.
“The trees in my work represent real trees, as well as being symbolic of a higher consciousness in the journey of the growth of my identity. My engraving of trees on the surface of the glass recalls me to a place of strength from inside of me. They suggest a fundamental order of the world and my place in it – my homeland.”
Her distinctive etched trees are the main aspect of her intricate glass sculptures, with the overall concept of her works being concerned with a sense of belonging and connections to a lived place. Chairs also feature in her works, connecting the idea of feeling a sense of ‘home’ and being able to look out and connect with nature on a personal level.
Since graduating from Sydney University in 2001, as well as obtaining a Master of Fine Arts in 2012, Kayo has worked tirelessly in perfecting her art and has constantly exhibited throughout Australia.
TRACY MURRAY ‘I don’t have time for this’ was Tracey’s first thought when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. Post treatment, she was determined to lead a slower life and figure out exactly what she did have time for. Her brain had started seeking more creative pursuits which led her to establish Shut Up and Relax Ceramics here in Brisbane in 2016. What she treasures most is making ceramics and guiding others in workshops. Taking the time to make and to celebrate each remarkable ordinary day of living is a way for her overthinking, never-shut-up-brain to chill out. Just a bit. She takes particular interest in elevating tableware beyond basic function. Through carefully considered form and creative glazing, she creates pieces that she hopes will be treasured for a lifetime. Tracy’s highlights over the past few years include exhibitions in Sydney with Amber Creswell-Bell, exhibiting in Paris Design Week 2018, a 4-page feature in Home Beautiful Magazine, and contributing ceramics for Donna Hay’s Week Light Cookbook. She has also been exhibited in the Inverell Art Gallery Contemporary in 2020, placed second in the Inverell Art Prize, and was stocked in Boon Paris and ABC Home NYC. In 2021, she co-founded a pop-up art gallery in Paddington, Brisbane, called Finite Art Space. She recently completed the 2020 BIFF ceremonial awards, dinnerware commissions for restaurants within the Noosa Food and Wine Festival and QAGOMA Restaurant. She belongs to the Greenhouse Interiors collaborating artist group and has recently expanded her workshops to go online with an exciting new concept, Project Shut Up and Relax. You can follow Tracy on Instagram @shutupandrelax Studio photo courtesy of Darcy Starr Photography 2020.
JOANNA BONE Joanna studied Glass Design at Wolverhampton University (Midlands, UK) and has a Masters Degree from the Royal College of Art (London, UK). On moving to Australia in 2002, Joanna found herself living alongside Queensland’s marine environment, the original home of some of her beloved shells. The colours, textures and forms found in this new environment have reinvigorated her interests in pattern, regularity and repetition. Today, Joanna Bone is one of Queensland’s foremost glass artists. Her work is internationally recognised and is held in prominent collections including the The National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), The Australian National Glass Collection (Wagga Wagga) and the Film Museum of Tehran, as well as numerous private collections around the world. Joanna is the only Queensland- based artist to have won the prestigious Ranamok Glass Prize for Australian and New Zealand artists and the respected Stanthorpe Art prize for 3D. Represented by The Glassery
CHRISTINE ATKINS Christine Atkins is a glass-based visual artist who studies the interaction between light, glass and water for her exploratory work. She is interested in highlighting the phenomena created during the interactions between these materials, while echoing phenomena found in nature. Ranging from installations to small-scale sculpture, all of her work is created from the interplay of her chosen materials and ideas. Since graduating with Honours from the Australian National University in 2011, Atkins has had five solo exhibitions and participated in multiple group shows across the country. She has been published twice in New Glass Review, plus won the inaugural Australian Craft Award in both the Lighting and Best in Glass categories in 2013. She has participated in residencies in both Australia and Finland. Atkins also has created several commission pieces for private residences across Australia. Represented by The Glassery
JARRED WRIGHT Jarred is a glass artist from Christchurch, Aotearoa, currently living in Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia. He is a scientific glass blower working in the chemistry, nanotechnology and microbiology industries. He is influenced by the organic forms that arise in the imperceptible microcosm of nature and how the amorphous solid/fluid that is molten glass can accurately portray it. Breathing life into the glass, pushing and pulling with subtle movements, creates shapes and forms that mimics microscopic organisms in a process that blurs creation and evolution, liquification and crystallisation, animated movement of molten glass cooling to be frozen in time culminating in the amoebic small-scale sculpture. Jarred finds influence in the natural forms that appear under the microscope in the sciences and he also maintains an affinity to the unique flora, fauna and artistic styling of his home land, Aotearoa. All of his work is shaped by hand (and mouth) while molten hot in the old tradition of bench torch glass blowing techniques. Represented by The Glassery
AARON MICALLEF Aaron Micallef first worked with hot glass 20 years ago, while living in the UK. He had a 10-year hiatus from hot glass after returning to Australia, but returned to the medium in 2016. Aaron’s hot glass practice is focused on the creation of simple glass forms, which are elaborated by deep intaglio engraving and other surface treatments, taking inspiration from pattern and form found in the natural world. Aaron collaborates with glass artist Joanna Bone, and in 2016, they were jointly awarded a joint Thomas Foundation Artist in Residence at the Canberra Glassworks, where they developed techniques for the incorporation of coral reef motifs in functional glassware. Aaron’s glass practice is complemented by photography, reinterpreting glass through the camera lens and capturing the subtleties of the diffusion, diffraction, reflection and refraction of light through blown and cut glass. One of his glass/ photography crossover works was selected as a finalist in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize in 2016. Aaron also has an established career in Chemistry academia and brings this knowledge, experience and a touch of the scientific method to his arts practice. Represented by The Glassery
LUCY QUINN Lucy Quinn is an artist who works across a number of media. She is interested in making highly crafted conceptual art works that evoke physical and emotive responses. Her works are often subtle and invite longer consideration. She is interested in abjection, relics, memory and the uncanny. Lucy’s non-narrative works suggest familiar symbols, textures or forms. Her multidisciplinary practice includes sculpture, video, and kiln-cast lead crystal. She creates glass sculpture using traditional lost wax casting and glass cold-working techniques. Lucy was awarded a Thomas Foundation Artist in Residence at the Canberra Glassworks (2015), where she explored the macro/micro and phenomenological experiences of site and space. Other residencies include the Prelinger Archive in San Francisco and Bundanon Trust, New South Wales. She has exhibited work across Australia. Lucy studied Printmedia at the Australian National University and has a Bachelor of Visual Arts, Honours First Class, from the School of Art (2007), receiving the Peter and Lena Karmel award for the top-ranking student. She received a scholarship to complete her Masters of Liberal Arts (Museums and Collections) in 2012. Lucy’s career includes extensive experience in the arts and cultural sector with a focus on arts access and education in cultural institutions. Her expertise includes both a practical skills base and diverse experiences developing and delivering programs and engagement opportunities for different communities. Represented by The Glassery
KERRY HOLLAND Coil building is a tender, contemplative and immensely satisfying process resulting in pieces that are uniquely nuanced and comforting to hold. I enjoy a freedom of expression and lightness in the making, drawing on experience, spirituality and the surrounding environment for inspiration. I have come to know that the imperfections that occur in the works as a result of experimenting with the clays are a blessing and contribute to the subtly and unrepeatable uniqueness of each piece. The vulnerability allows the viewer into the experience of the work. Perth born and a UWA science graduate, Kerry Holland studied portraiture in Oxford in 1981 with Basil Hennessy before returning to Australia in 1983 and studying Fine Arts at Claremont School of Art, Western Australia. Later moving to Brisbane in 1993, Kerry studied with Madonna Staunton, Glenn Henderson, Peter Biddulph
and Dianne Peach at the Brisbane Institute of Art. Now mid-career, Kerry has exhibited around Australia, including in the Bake Prize and Portia Geach Award exhibitions and the National Portrait Gallery. She is the winner of the Nona Metcalfe Prize in 2012 and the Morva Hunter Ceramic Award in 2022. Kerry’s ceramic works were described as appealing for their ‘rawness and vulnerability’ by judges Sally Cox and Karl de Waal. She is commissioned to do portrait work, and her ceramics are shown in the Makers Gallery, Brisbane. Her next exhibition, The Visitation, is to be exhibited in August at the Brisbane Institute of Art. She is a member of the Milton Anglican community and their Art and Justice committee and gives the full retreat of St Ignatius with Faber JISA.
TIEL SEIVL-KEEVERS Based in Brisbane, Tiel has been a fulltime practicing artist for the last 17 years with a career in the Arts and Education for over 25 years. Majoring in printmaking in Visual Arts at QUT in the early 90s, she then went on to have a successful career in graphic design and arts education in both Queensland and Victoria. Tiel now works as a fulltime artist, painting and exploring other media such as textiles and ceramics. The following are themes she often encompasses through multidisciplinary techniques within her work: nature | memory | ageing | cycles | topography | place | impermanence | substance. Tiel explores concepts of memory and impermanence in relation to specific topographical journeys. Although she continues to explore her natural surroundings within her hometown of Brisbane, she and her family also regularly visit the beaches and hinterland of Northern New South Wales, particularly in the Tweed and Byron Shires. Tiel manipulates surfaces by adding and removing marks to reflect seasonal and cyclical changes. She focuses on the landscapes and intricacies that can only be seen by immersing herself into an area, and then trying to capture the essence and mood of being within a place while appreciating the constant impermanence of life.
MARI HIRATA Mari Hirata is a visual artist and silversmith based in Brisbane. Since completing her Master of Arts in Visual Arts at Queensland College of Art, Mari has exhibited in venues throughout Australia and overseas. Her practice over the years has revolved around photography, sculpture, installation, and silversmithing, and her works are housed in collections including the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), Home Of The Arts (Gold Coast), and Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery. Mari has received ongoing mentorship under master Gold and Silversmith Sel Pilgrim since 2014 and has progressed onto developing a distinct style that responds to her surroundings and relational concepts, while reflecting the aesthetics and sensibilities of her Japanese cultural heritage. Mari was artist in residence at the renowned Bundanon Trust in 2018, and in 2019 was one of five artists featured in Elements outdoor sculpture exhibition as part of Horizon Art Festival on the Sunshine Coast. Her wearable sculptures were shown in the exhibition State of Shine at Radiant Pavilion: Melbourne Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennial 2019, followed by Redcliffe Regional Art Gallery in 2021, and a selected finalist in Contemporary Wearables Biennial Jewellery Award and Exhibition at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery in 2019 and 2021. In 2020, Mari was awarded the Neumann Family SWELL Sculpture Award and received the Environmental Award at the 2021 Sculpture at Scenic World. In the same year, a series of her wearable artworks were acquired by the renowned contemporary jewellery collection at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery. Mari is represented by Lorraine Pilgrim Gallery (Gold Coast), and her wearable and small object works are currently stocked at the Museum of Brisbane, Artisan, HOTA, Rockhampton Museum of Art, Lorraine Pilgrim and Studio 87.
PAOLA RAGGO RAGGO - PRAGGA JEWELLERY Paola Raggo is a contemporary jeweller and painter who graduated with distinction in 1992 from the School of Visual Arts, University of Chile. Since then, she has been a jewellery educator and artist. Paola has participated in several exhibitions including Delirio y Cordura at Velvet da Vinci gallery, San Francisco; Aureus Feeling at Creativity Oggetti gallery, Torino Italy and in USE Australian touring exhibition. Through her practice she likes to explore and
push the boundaries between the two medias she works with – painting and jewellery. Colour and metal have been her medium to talk about the issues that impact her, such as the endangered environment, political injustices and exploring our inner world. She lives and works at her home in Brisbane.
BARBARA HEATH Whether commissioned or brand jewellery, major public artwork or bespoke architectural detailing, the work of Barbara Heath describes her distinctive approach to creating contemporary objects imbued with histories, narratives, and symbolism. With a national and international exhibiting career spanning over 30 years demonstrating her skills as an artist, jeweller and designer, Heath has practised in Brisbane for more than three decades and is represented in numerous public collections. Barbara describes her studio practice as ‘Jeweller to the Lost’, a title that hints at the intimate collaborative nature of making meaningful objects that articulate her clients personal stories.
JACQUELINE CALVERT-LANE Jacquie was born in London, England, studying a one year foundation course at the Hornsey School of Art; however, a change in course saw her moving to graphic design at the Norwich School of Art. She has worked as a designer and had a variety of careers, but drawing, a love of jewellery and shoes have been constant interests. A workshop with Meghan O’Rourke sparked that love of jewels and metals to a fire and led her to study at the goldsmith school. She uses mostly sterling silver, and often recycled silver, but a combination alloy of palladium/ silver has become a favourite. Her pieces vary, combining gypsy set gems, resin and gold leaf. Pieces are made by hand with influences of nature, in particular the ocean and green water lily ponds reminiscent of old English gardens. Having come to jewellery making later in life means experimentation is important. Combining different media such as resin and stones has encouraged her ongoing voyage of discovery. Her pieces are elegant and bold, sometimes a bit eccentric, a little whimsical, just like the part of her that will always be English.
JILL MARSDEN With 40 years of creative experience, Jill has spent the last 15 years honing her skills in gold/silversmithing and jewellery design. Jill’s current design signature is gold leaf, in the tradition of famed Italian artisans. Jill’s luxurious, bespoke jewellery is made for clients who want to make a bold or small statement that expresses their individual style.
Jill makes all pieces in her Brisbane studio.The metals Jill works with are gold, silver (sterling, fine and palladium), and GF14k gold, baroque high lustre freshwater pearls, and precious and semi-precious gemstones.
CAROLINE KELLY Caroline Kelly is an independent bespoke jewellery maker specialising in handmade silver and gemstone jewellery. She creates handcrafted pieces taking ancient elements of silver smithing with strong clean, modern design. Her pieces are elemental and organic, allowing the beauty of the material to speak, whether it is oxidised or texturised sterling silver, natural riverstones, beautiful gemstones or crystals or brightly coloured resin. Minimalist functionality and beauty of form characterise her work. A strong emphasis on simplicity runs throughout the jewellery created by c.k.d.
KATIE STORMONTH Katie Stormonth is a contemporary jeweller based in Brisbane, Australia, and was one of the founding members of Bench (a collective jewellery studio). She completed a Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours in 2011 and currently works as the technical officer at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. As an early career artist, she participated in exhibitions locally, nationally, and internationally. Her practice aims to expand the boundaries of wearable body adornment through experimentation of materials and forms. She constructs alluring arrangements of repetitious forms and painted surfaces, highlighting the patterns of bold and decorative chased line work. Predominantly working with aluminium and sterling silver, Katie often includes timber components that have been laser cut. Colour is seen as the signature element in her works. Bright and bold, these colours bring a sense of playfulness and joy.
MALKI STUDIO Malki’s founders—artists Ariella, Adam and Lia Anderson—harmoniously incorporate a diverse set of expertise drawn from equally diverse practices. After many cumulative years of independent making in their respective fields, they have come together to make jewellery and art objects with soul. Their collective practice is rooted in the appreciation of culture, heritage, the landscape, history, and the sociopolitical experiences of contemporary life. They consider it their role to go beyond making desirable objects but to interact with contemporary life, celebrating its freedoms and challenging outdated and problematic values. Their aim is to make objects of self-empowerment, objects that protect and fortify as they adorn and speak to one’s identity and worldview. They are motivated by the enriching and enjoyable process of creation, in which raw materials transform and by extension become transformative and empowering devices of self-expression. As such, these materials matter—and accordingly they strongly favour ethically sourced materials. The majority of Malki metals are responsibly sourced, and many of their gemstones are similarly ethically sourced or reclaimed and repurposed. Malki Studio pieces are characterised by the emotional grandeur of exaggerated archaeological, architectural, natural, and asymmetrical forms. Bold and confident, Malki creates conceptually invested and individualistic statement jewellery.
CATHERINE LARGE Catherine Large is a contemporary jeweller and metalsmith based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Her practice encompasses jewellery, silversmithing and vitreous enamelling.
inform her work, which is a contemplative process of considering materials, taking time to think about the creation of objects, and using her hands and tools to bring the ideas to fruition.
Catherine has a Bachelor of Visual Art from Sydney College of the Arts and a Masters of Visual Art from Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, and teaches in Jewellery and Small Objects in the Fine Art Department at QCA, Griffith University.
She remains particularly interested in objects and flatware, a focus of her original training. She sees making as an opportunity to communicate ideas and to engage in notions such as sustainability and quality in craftsmanship.
Catherine has been making original jewellery, objects and flatware in precious metal for over 35 years. She often works with recycled and reused materials, both precious and non-precious, in a studio that is an efficient but compact space. She draws on her experiences of her environment, travel, and the nature of ‘stuff’ to
Catherine has been the recipient of a number of grants and has held solo exhibitions as well as participating regularly in group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Her work is held in both public and private collections.
XIAO DENG Xiao Deng is the force behind the contemporary jewellery label Jewellery By Xiao. Working from her Brisbane-based studio, Xiao creates unique one-of-a-kind and limited-run pieces, inspired by the beauty of nature and the everyday world around her. Each of Xiao’s works is meticulously hand-crafted in precious metals, accentuated by carefully selected precious and semi-precious gemstones. Xiao’s practice is best defined by her immaculate attention to detail and fine craftsmanship, combining classical elegance with a modern edge.
JANE KESSLER Jane’s work is handcrafted in her inner Brisbane studio. She explores texture with natural forms, hammered surfaces complementing a polished finish, and touches of colour bring out the excitement and beauty in each piece of jewellery she creates. Jane uses gemstones that she has personally selected from locations across the globe, adding to the creativity and individualism, with recycled precious metals sourced here in Australia. Every effort is made to support small artisanal miners when sourcing colourful gemstones, and from there, wonderful friendships have developed over the years. Since graduating in early 2012 as a gemmologist with the British Gemmological Association and with GIA as a pearl graduate, Jane manages to work in both fields within the jewellery industry. Focused on growing her bespoke jewellery label and running her own gemstone business, Jane also has a passion to share her knowledge in gemmology and enjoys teaching an Introduction to Gemmology to students and jewellers, opening up their world to beautiful gemstones.
IZABELLA CHABROWSKA Every stitch is a blend of creativity, consideration and comfort, such is the power of dedicated handwork. Izabella Chabrowska creates embroidered vessels and sculptural works that explore the never-ending possibilities of fabric and thread. Inspired by the incredible artistry and history of centuries of textile and folk art traditions, these vessels signal a new way of considering embroidery art. Utilising techniques from an array of creative practices, including quilting, cross-stitch, applique and couture embroidery, Izabella produces artistic pieces from fabric scraps, discarded beads and other unwanted or everyday materials, highlighting the often overlooked beauty in the textiles that surround us.
GLEN SKIEN AND MICHELLE WILD WILD + PARROT Handmade Pins is a collaboration between Brisbane-based artists Michelle Wild and Glen Skien. Their unique wearable pins are fashioned from their creative talents that explore the disciplines of collage, the found object and forged small objects. Glen Skien is a Brisbane-based artist/printmaker. In 2000, he established Silent Parrot Press that focused his practice on unique printing editions and the artist book. He has established a national and regional reputation in
delivering workshops that are underpinned by his own studio practice that embraces a poetic collision between materials and process. Michelle Wild is a Brisbane-based artist whose studio practice has embraced a mix of traditional printmaking techniques, small objects and immersive text-based installation works.
PAULA BOO Paula Boo, Minjerribah/Tjerrangerri Island songbird, weaves her acoustic soul through her music and her art. She shares stories from her French Canadian, Lebanese and Norwegian songlines to create a universal and uplifting voice that connects with the ancestors, the oceans, and the land in a celebration of culture. An artist, a musician and a scientist by trade, Paula Boo has many a musical and often hilarious story to share through the deep resonance of her connection to community, land, the plant world, animals and spirit and shares what it means to traverse both the creative and logical worlds. Paula’s transition to full-time artist and musician in 2019 continues to develop as her creative journey unfolds. ‘My inspiration comes primarily from my natural environment, my community, and my mothers who have gone before me. When I look back and think about all these women, who were exceptional artists, although they didn’t identify as such, I see the patterns
they used and recognise those patterns in my own work. This makes me feel connected to my mothers and brings my soul loving peace.’ Paula uses a variety of traditional and innovative techniques, styles, and materials, mainly working with natural fibres such as banana, palm inflorescence and sheaths, Lomandra, hemp, raffia and various weedy vines, and sometimes she incorporates rope and other found materials. She is currently exploring the fusion of metal works, ceramics and cyanotype with natural fibres. Paula continues to explore and learn weaving and basketry techniques from traditional and contemporary weavers, whom she acknowledges as powerful women and men, always with respect for their ancient art forms. It is about sharing her knowledge with others while learning new techniques that will enable contemporary expressions of weaving as a vital art form.
CLAUDIA MAZZOTTA Claudia Mazzotta uses the needle and thread as a drawing tool to stitch into antique fabric sourced from around the world. Her intention is to capture her own lived experience in the present, while accumulating narratives embedded into the fibre. Time is at the core of Claudia’s practice. The experiences which are engraved into these textiles are given a new form to speak through. Each stitch is a considered contribution, this time-consuming process is practised over a significant period. It allows for self-refection and review as the composition evolves.
BRETT MCMAHON Brett McMahon is an Australian artist who makes paintings, drawings and sculptural installations using linen, paper and found materials, all of which uncover forms, structures and storylines in natural and built environments. His work also extends to collaborations with architectural and design partners. Brett has held over 30 solo exhibitions in commercial and public galleries and his works have been collected in public, private and corporate collections in Australia, Asia, Europe and the US.
LEIGH SCHOENHEIMER Created in concert with her painting practice, artist Leigh Schoenheimer’s assemblages are constructed of timber scraps, toys and found objects. Informed by the visual language of modernism, she works at the intersection of rationality and intuition; intellect and whimsy. Brightly painted surfaces sit alongside raw, unfinished elements in stark contrast to one another, while familiar components spark joyful recognition. In 2020 – 2021, Schoenheimer’s paintings and sculptures toured Queensland’s regional galleries in ‘Iterate | Elaborate’, a solo exhibition presented by Flying Arts Alliance. Her work continues to be shortlisted in a wide range of notable art prizes and is included in many private and public collections throughout Australia. Schoenheimer’s work is the subject of an extensive case study in the current Senior Visual Arts textbook for Queensland. Her most recent achievements in 2022 include the completion of an artist’s residency at the Tweed Regional Gallery, New South Wales, in January and the winning of the Hutchinson Builders’ Open (acquisition) Award along with the Spencer Financial Group ‘Innovation’ Award at the ‘Facets’ exhibition in Toowoomba in May.
WILD BASKETS Wild Baskets is a joint venture of Judith and Richard Wolski that has developed over 30 years. Judith is the Weaver and Richard is the ‘Hunter Gatherer’. Wild Baskets grew from their passion to protect the native environment and its inhabitants, together with their enthusiasm to reduce waste. Judith and Richard have been active members of many Conservation Groups. While helping relieve the bush of destructive weeds and vines, they started experimenting with these plants in their weaving. They have been involved with education in wildlife protection, organic farming, composting, recycling, and waste reduction and have participated in remnant vegetation studies and mapping programs. Judith says: “I first became interested in basket weaving as a child from my Nanna. She was blind and basketry was one of her therapies. Later in my life, I learnt some valuable traditional basketry techniques from Aboriginal and New Guinea locals using natural plant fibres. I started experimenting with plant fibres available in our area and soon developed my own style and techniques.” Wild Baskets conduct workshops all over Australia and productively sell their baskets. They use invasive weeds like morning glory, cat’s claw, white moth vine and lantana, which are smothering the Sunshine Coast landscape. Wild Baskets has successfully been using destructive weed vines for many years. They make the most amazing baskets, which ignite huge interest when it’s disclosed their beautiful and functional works of art started as invasive and destructive plants.
KARL DE WAAL Karl De Waal’s work is a commentary on his experience of watching the world trying to make sense of its paradoxes and ironies. It attempts to expose the distance between what we see and know, and the tenuous connections and links that help construct our personal realities and identities. Although his practice is wide and varied, it falls under a conceptual umbrella. A myriad of differing styles and mediums are used and collage, assemblage and chance are the driving principles harnessed. Different mediums are used to explore different ideas, sometimes satirical, sometimes pure excursions into form. He draws strength and inspiration from Dada, believing it to be as relevant today as it was in its beginnings, enjoying its frivolity, its diversity and its humour, which is always out to enlighten, enrage or entertain. Our interconnectivity and the interconnectedness of all experience and all things is paramount to what makes us human. In an age where the bulimic consumption of experience and knowledge saturates our very being, his work seeks to remind us all of the fundamentals and fragilities of what makes us human.
ELISE HEATHER Elise Heather is a self taught textile artist from Toowoomba, Queensland. As she grew up, she was known for constantly tinkering and making. Through this type of experimentation, she found she had a particular love for the use of her hands as her main tool. She is wildly passionate about what she does and sharing her love of fibre and mixed media arts with others. Since 2015, Elise has been combining multiple skills to create unique artworks based on her love of nature. She has a dedicated home studio for her to practise her skills and craft each individual artwork. Recently, Elise has been drawn to the micro world of insects, admiring their small details and recreating them on a larger scale. Her insects are made with reused and reclaimed fabrics, paints, wires and paper. “My craft is entirely self taught. I was able to teach myself and develop my own techniques through creative experimentation. It seems to come very naturally to me as I intertwine materials to create some of my pieces. I truly enjoy what I do and strive every day to bring art to others through making and teaching.”
DEB MOSTERT Deb Mostert’s contemporary art practice is 30 years young and involves drawing, painting, sculpture and public art. Her work has been built around the search for collected personal objects, a love of natural history and curated public museum collections, which can become quirky and crisp conversations around memory, collection, curation and value. Her daily habit of drawing in a sketchbook feeds her practice. Deb holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from Queensland College of Art and has had 18 solo shows and been involved in more than 70 group shows in both regional and commercial galleries. She has won several awards and been a finalist in many National art prizes including the Bale Painting Prize, the Salon de Refuses, Jacaranda Drawing Prize and Marie Ellis Prize for Drawing. Deb has over 20 years teaching experience with workshops and artist in residencies.
ELIZABETH POOLE Elizabeth Poole is a visual artist living and working near Toogoolawah north-west of Brisbane, Queensland. The Australian bush, where she has been lucky enough to live and work for most of her life, is fragile and often fragmented in appearance. Her time and observations are divided between the area known as Wallum, which is basically floodplains and heathland surrounding Noosa’s lake and river systems, and the even more sparse, as well as bony, dry inland. She is also interested in observing and recording the forms and patterns of the earthlings that inhabit these areas.
CARLY SCOUFOS Carly Scoufos is an Australian visual artist working across a range of mediums. Her current studio practice predominately focuses on sculpture and installation; however, her earliest qualifications were in drawing and painting. She studied at the Santa Rosa Junior College in California, before completing a Bachelor of Fine Art with First Class Honours from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. After graduating, Carly was awarded the Queensland Art Gallery’s 2008 Melville Haysom Memorial Art Scholarship and exhibited in QAG’s Watermall Café as part of the Starter Space program. In 2009, following the receipt of the Siganto Travel Scholarship, Carly undertook a studio residency at Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo, where she presented her first solo exhibition, Seam. Since then, she has exhibited regularly, been awarded numerous grants and awards, and completed a large number of public commissions in both
Australia and overseas. Her recent commissions include a large-scale sculptural installation for the foyer of 1 William Street, Brisbane, a 30m suspended sculpture at the Domestic Terminal of Perth Airport, and a collaboration with Urban Art Projects Shanghai to deliver her largest work to date for a residential and commercial development in Shenzhen, China. In the past two years Carly has continued to work with Urban Art Projects Shanghai to deliver two suspended sculptures for the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Centre. She also designed and fabricated two sculptures for the private dining rooms – Silver Ash and Iron Bark – at Woodcut Restaurant, Crown Resort in Sydney.
CAM CROSSLEY Cam Crossley is a sculptor and architect living on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland working in clay, steel and bronze. One of the many things I love about sculpture is the sense of frozen moment – the stillness that allows us to physically circumnavigate a composition. It allows us to better appreciate what would otherwise be a fleeting sense of grace. For Cam, bronze sculpture is so much more than manipulated form and surface. The bronze itself evokes a sense of our history, retelling from memory the stories which define us. It also permits Cam to simultaneously pursue two passions: bronze – as an exquisite material and process, and the human figure – the vehicle, measure and expression of us, and the physical and emotional relationships we have with each other and with our environment. In his public projects, Cam is delighted to work with communities and key stakeholders to create not just significant sculpture but sacred spaces to be valued by those communities for decades to come. For Cam, sculpture must be relevant, meaningful, and evocative. We should always embrace the opportunities that come to hand to extend the relevance of the sculptural work further outwards into the landscape it occupies. Cam works to make art that has meaning and resonance, but what artists pursue through their art and what that work communicates cannot be expressed in a few words. His sculptures find their own voice, guided by hand through the clay, the bronze and fire.
MICHAEL EATHER Born and educated in Tasmania, Michael lived and travelled in the Northern Territory before settling in Brisbane. Since 1985, he has continued to work as a multi-disciplinary artist as well as a gallerist, project curator and consultant, with extensive experiences across contemporary Indigenous art forms and issues. In 1990, he co-founded Campfire Group Projects, aligned with collaboration and cross-cultural initiatives. He is Director of Fireworks Gallery, a commercial enterprise established
in 1993. In 2019, he established Ghost Ship Studio in Newstead where he continues to make sculptures and painting, including collaborative artworks. Michael has had 25 solo exhibitions and been involved in over 50 group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Represented by Fireworks Gallery
WALALA TJAPALTJARRI Dubbed the Pintupi Nine, The Lost Tribe or Last Nomads by international news outlets, Walala, his two brothers and three sisters lived a traditional, nomadic way of life in the Gibson Desert near Lake Mackay (WA/NT border) having no contact with non-Aboriginal people until 1984. After the death of the patriarch of the family a few years earlier, the group went in search of relatives on the outskirts of the Pintupi community of Kiwirrkurra.
Trips to Brisbane in 2001 and 2004 for drawing workshops further amplified this stylisation. Ink works on paper from the period appear almost calligraphic. While in Brisbane, Walala also began collaborating with Campfire Group Artists on sculpture projects. The subsequent sculpture series were mapped from Walala’s drawings and translated – via scans and laser-cutting technologies – into (limited edition) welded steel and timber forms.
Walala began his artistic career in 1991 in the classic Pintupi dot and circle style, and – like his brothers (also internationally renowned artists Warlimpirrnga and Thomas Tjapaltjarri) – he chose to depict men’s Tingari designs. These Tingari forms relate to men’s ceremonial ground and body painting.
In 2022, a reinvigoration of these sculpture projects sees the creation of new Tingari arrangements, sand cast in bronze with rich, earthy patinas. There are five new arrangements created in a limited edition of five.
Though his earlier work employed the tight dotting reminiscent of Papunya Tula artists (such as Yala Yala Gibbs, Willy and George Ward Tjungurrayi), he quickly developed his own distinctive approach to painting, abstracting and simplifying the Tingari designs with a minimalist use of colour, and his unique style evolved as boldly graphic. He was celebrated with exhibitions across Australia and overseas.
Walala’s works are held in numerous private, corporate and public collections nationally and internationally. Represented by Fireworks Gallery
VINCENT SERICO ESTATE Vincent lived and worked between Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement and Toowoomba. In his early years, he travelled around other regional towns and Aboriginal communities including Palm Island, Doomadgee and Mornington Island, meeting extended family members and absorbing their oral histories. Vincent started painting at Cherbourg, producing art and artefacts typical of the times. These works were largely bound for the tourist market. In the early 1990s, his work became increasingly focused on contemporary events and social issues, particularly the struggles of Indigenous people with their cultural and lifestyle changes.
The artist regarded himself as a history painter, his bittersweet visual narratives cleverly loaded with pathos, humour and tragedy. His grandfather’s country, the Carnarvon Ranges in Western Queensland, and his grandmother’s country north of Cooktown, Far North Queensland, were two prominent settings for the stories he told through his work. The artist’s works are held in major private, corporate and public collections including the Nationally Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia and QAGOMA. Represented by Fireworks Gallery
LAURIE NILSEN Laurie trained in sculpture and the graphic arts. Drawing, painting and mixed-media mediums all formed part of his practice. The artist often featured works with barbed wire encompassing cultural, political and environmental concerns. Although most of Laurie’s work tackled issues that concern Aboriginal people, he recognised these concerns also affect non-Aboriginal people. Humour and satire were prevalent throughout the artist’s repertoire. Laurie was a foundation member of the Campfire Group Artists in the early 1990s and a founding member of proppaNOW Artists Collective established in 2004. The artist was the recipient of numerous art awards including the 2007 Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award for the 3D installation titled Goolburis on the Bungil Creek. Laurie’s work is held in numerous private, corporate and public collections. In 1988, he was one of the first ‘urban’ Aboriginal artists to have work acquired by the National Gallery of Australia. Represented by Fireworks Gallery
MILES ALLEN Miles started painting in 1998, inspired by the colour, vibrancy and inventiveness of Emily Kngwarreye’s work. He has studied Rosalie Gascoigne’s practice and loves the innovation, repetition and the sense of place she conveys. These artists have been major influences and inspirations behind his work. The artist’s current practice is an ongoing exploration into recycling various materials to create geometrical artworks with lines and rhythms. His art is about seeing beauty in ordinary things, creating order, crossing cultures, joy, humour and repurposing. Miles has held 17 solo exhibitions since 2002, including, most recently in 2018, at Noosa Regional Gallery. He has been a finalist in many art competitions and is represented in the collections of Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Mater Private Hospital, Brisbane and Gold Coast University Hospital amongst others. Represented by Fireworks Gallery
ALICK SWEET Alick is a Brisbane-based artist who has won several major awards for painting, sculpture and drawing. Timber, stone, steel, bronze and paint are used to create free standing objects, wall reliefs and installations. During the installation process, where the compositions grow and become site specific, the realms of sculpture, drawing, painting, design and carpentry converge and cohabit. This method of working allows the artist’s keen interest in construction as with composition to develop. Colour adds a dramatic element to the work and helps amplify the dynamics of the form; sometimes colour occurs incidentally through the addition of component parts simply by the application of paint. Alick’s works are held in numerous private and public collections nationally and internationally. Represented by Fireworks Gallery
DAVID PAULSON Having received formal art training in Sydney and Tasmania, David has established himself as a master draughtsman with a longstanding reputation as a teacher of life drawing. Although David works predominantly in oil painting, his classical understanding and contemporary reading both of the figure and the landscape remains the foundation for his art and ideology. David has been a finalist three times in the Archibald Prize at the AGNSW and his works are held in numerous private and public collections, most notably the Queensland Art Gallery. Represented by Fireworks Gallery
ROSELLA NAMOK Rosella Namok first appeared on the contemporary art scene in the late 1990s as a prominent member of the renowned Lockhart River ‘Art Gang’. Growing up, she experienced traditional life – such as camping, fishing, and gathering berries – within and around Lockhart River, Claudie River, Quintell Beach, Chilli Beach and the Iron Range (Kutini-Payamu) National Park. With an extensive history exhibiting nationally and internationally, Rosella has been living and working in Cairns. More recently, she has completed major commissions in Brisbane studios. Her paintings continue to reflect both traditional stories and contemporary themes across cultural and social concerns, with candid observations about changing lifestyles and the environment. Through a technique developed by watching her grandmother drawing in the sand, Rosella often creates patterned, linear arrangements by pulling her fingers through the layers of paint. Rosella Namok has been collected by all major State and National Galleries, including The High Court of Australia in Canberra. Represented by Fireworks Gallery
BARK ARTISTS Bobby Ngainmijra, Jackie Adjarvory, Terisina Munkara and Mick Munkara Before the Papunya Tula movement of the 1970s, which saw desert “dot painting” enter the mainstream art market, the stunning bark paintings of Arnhem Land came to mind when people thought of Aboriginal art. Stringybark trees grow abundantly in coastal Arnhem Land (NT). Big pieces of bark are cut from the tree, cured, and made flat over fire before being decorated with natural ochre pigments. These artists have each produced incredible examples of such work. Represented by Fireworks Gallery