British born, Nicola is a Sydney based artist working out of her studio on the Northern Beaches. She was a finalist in The Northern Beaches Environmental Art Prize 2023, The Little Things Art Prize 2023 and in both NEAP 2021 and 2022 prizes.Her botanical studies are unpretentious and contemporary depictions of native flora with the viewer finding comfort in the familiar motifs of the Australian Bush.

“Botanical Studies – Returning my gaze to Australian native botanicals is like a balm, a constant source of delight and comfort. The rest of the world might be in turmoil but I know I can find solace here. My love affair with native plants began when I visited as a backpacker almost 25 years ago. One of the houses I stayed in had a Margaret Preston print on the kitchen wall and I was awestruck, I’d never seen anything like it! My learning and appreciation for Australian natives deepens as I observe and render their forms in oil pastel. The medium leaves little room for fussiness, I work quickly, finding the best way to describe what is in front of me with minimal detail. Simplifying form and colour. I aim to give a true representation of the plant, to honour it’s actual make-up but at the same time I’m not interested in a scientifically accurate drawing, I hope to evoke a feeling of awe, of gratitude or of comfort.This collection of botanical studies was a joy to create and features some of my favourites, the other-worldly Banksia baueri or ’Teddy Bear’ Banksia, the super soft Flannel Flower; delicately formed yet resilient and hardy, and the incredible Bell Fruited Mallee with acid yellow blossoms and dark black centres. I don’t think they meet traditional standards of ‘beauty’, but that is what I love most about them. ” Nicola Woodcock

This exhibition is in gallery until the 11th of November and will continue online and via appointment until the 25th November. Please get in touch northernbeaches@michaelreid.com.au to arrange a viewing.

‘A Place in the Sun’ is a group show that aims to capture the essence of the warmer months spent by the sea, bringing together five brilliant emerging artists painting from life. The exhibition features works of radiant and reviving landscapes, sun-dappled still life and figurative portraits of locals enjoying the sea.

Featuring works by: Vicki Ratcliff, Ella Holme, Gemma Rasdall, Jennifer Ross and Peta Dzubiel

Hailing from Awabakal land (Newcastle, NSW), Bel is a self-taught artist having begun her practice in 2015. She started to paint to soothe the mental strain of becoming physically unwell throughout her 20’s. For a time painting had been something to help an unwell woman heal, but soon became a great love and a way of life for her. With a commitment to her craft and a connection to the land, Bel is drawn to the natural ochres and pigments that are native to the Australian earth.

There is a layering of what she sees and remembers that is interspersed with what she paints.

Bel’s palette and subjects hum a meditative silence of the bush and landscape of this Sunburnt Country. Her sombre palette and repetition of her subject echo a melancholia in her rhetoric. With looming, skeletal trees in the foreground, a Rothko-like treatment of canvas pulls the viewer in, posing a question – will you take a moment to bask in the silence? Bel’s connection to place, childhood memories and surrealist dreamscapes are evident as her paintings speak to her philosophy of art as medicine.

“The truth is that I need this; we do. This slow-down-and-enjoy posture towards what is right in front of us… And still it is taken for granted more often than I dare to examine… 

A reaction to hast and tiredness, I try not to forget this good-to-me thing. The reality that the land and still-life taken from it hold an abundance of joy for me to tap into. The easy pleasure that I take for granted…

I’m trying not to take this for granted as I sit back and take note, of the dust that is bold in its depth and the sky that blushes twice a day. The vase that was bought from a gifted maker, rests those flora I am fixated on… now… as I sit and take note. 

Walking out into the bushland, the slurry by the bank didn’t seem so much of interest, but taken the time, its form and layering allow me to access an appreciation for it. I look for a long time and find browns, oranges, and dirtied down pinks I hadn’t seen at first glance. I realise it’s brilliance.

Placing paint to brush to canvas, I’m remembering and delighting in the reality of every hour spent and its necessity for me. 

Joy is found right here, in its most organic form, in the most “mundane” of things because nothing is truely mundane at all.

This is what’s important. Sitting with it and enjoying every moment. It is Vital.” – Giorgia Bell

Sophie Nolan is a ceramicist based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. By using hand building techniques, Sophie creates one-of-a-kind curvy, sensual sculptural pieces, each shape holding its own presence and personality. The celebration of the human form, focusing on the beauty of our unique imperfections, curves, nuances and individualism is a constant theme running through her work. “I find myself fascinated with the aesthetic of the female form. Beyond the form itself, I see mysterious beauty deeply layered with complexities; strength, power, vulnerability, joy, fear; all unique to the individual.” Sophie’s work has been exhibited in both group and solo shows for galleries such as Michael Reid, Sydney Road Gallery and St Cloche in Sydney and IXL Gallery in Hobart. Sophie supplies interior designers and stylists, high-end interior and fashion stores and has enjoyed collaborations with fashion designers such as Viktoria + Wood.

“We are not apart from nature, we are a part of nature.” Prince Ea

“In this body of work I seek to encourage a dialogue between the natural landscape and the female form. Through this age old relationship between woman and nature, I address the concept of earth as the mother of humanity, a nurturing essential resource.

Through my sculptural pieces, I prompt the viewer to recognise our interconnectedness to the natural world, to remember that we come from nature, we are nature. My organic shapes have intuitive and visible parallels between the curves of meandering rivers, boulders, tree trunks, branches and human trunks, torsos and limbs. Giving the curving trunks and twisting branches of our gum trees anthropomorphic qualities. The feminine shapes and forms highlight the nurturing and healing attributes of women and nature, their resilience and ability for renewal.

I hope my work will evoke the viewer’s own feeling of being in close relationship with our natural environment. A reminder to us all to celebrate, honour, protect and preserve our ‘mother’” – Sophie Nolan

Ben Waters is a practicing artist living on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. He paints the landscape in and around Pittwater. His focus is to present this area through the lense of memory, imagination and experience. Since 2019, Ben has regularly exhibited his paintings in both group and solo exhibitions. He studied at The College of Fine Arts, NSW University. His current practice involves painting with acrylic on board. He makes all his own boards as well as framing finished pieces.

“I don’t want to paint actual views of this area; I want to paint the way it makes me feel. These feelings can be numerous.

It might be a feeling of awe but it also might be a sense of healing. It might be a feeling of wonder, but it also might pull my focus back to living in the now.

 ‘Come, walk with me…’ is an invitation to share glimpses of this area that evoke within me these feelings and more. These places might be bush tracks that overlook stunning views, or they might be overgrown trails tucked away amongst suburban streets. They could be memories of neighbourhood gums seen repeatedly while walking the dog. It could be imagining what it might be like in an area across the bay which is only accessible by boat. It might be the hollow of a tree trunk which is home to a family of birds. It might be the marks of nature on a Scribbly Bark tree.

These feelings are the catalyst behind the act of painting for me. Painting is the only way I know how to respond to them, and these paintings express something about me that can be shared. In sharing, I hope to extend that invitation to ‘walk with me’ “ – Ben Waters

In Gallery, 20 September–13 October

Online, 13 September–30 October

Currently located in Geelong, Amber Stokie holds a BA in Fine Art from the University of Ballarat (1995) and recently completed a Master of Fine Art degree with Distinction at RMIT University, Melbourne (2018). Stokie has been exhibiting regularly in group and solo exhibitions since 2009. From 2006 to 2009 she established and curated regular exhibitions at Artasis Gallery (ARI) in Richmond. Throughout this period, she also completed several private and corporate commissions and participated in live painting performances at venues that included the National Gallery of Victoria and Chapter House in Melbourne, Vic. She has been a finalist in the Williamstown, Stanthorpe and Blacktown prizes and has won “people’s choice” at AGENDO emerging art award. In 2016 she was recipient of the ADFAS Young Artist Award for her RMIT MFA work, the next year she successfully applied for a solo exhibition at the Wodonga Public Art Gallery. Stokie has been awarded multiple grants for her work from both Council and RMIT University. In 2019 she was commissioned to perform a key work “Are You An Artist Too” from her Masters studies at the 2019 Montsalvat Arts Centre in Melbourne.

Amber Stokie describes her latest abstract paintings as a slow build of depth and dimension where a focus on texture and colour is used to create immersive paintings that continue her investigation of the emotional experiences that come with living in today’s world. 

Through the skilful use of layering, Stokie’s paintings reflect her fascination with life’s ever-changing journey in which diverse events and unpredictable encounters shape our experiences and identity. Her use of bold and unexpected bursts of colour throughout her paintings could be read as moments, turning points, or events of significance, an approach that evokes a sense of fascination and constant discovery after lengthy observation.  Stokie perceives herself as an optimist, carefully selecting a palette that evokes a sense of joy and contemplative connection.

Stokie constructs her work with layers of oil paint and pure pigment, materials that allow for alchemic and often unpredictable outcomes retaining an immediacy in the work. The temporal nature of this body of work, both in its physical and conceptual construction alludes to the relationship between the passing of time and the development of our life’s narratives. 

These works, with their lively and complex surfacers, invite close inspection and closer introspection.

This exhibition will be on display at Michael Reid Northern Beaches from the 23rd of August until the 2nd of September. Viewings are welcome at any time within the exhibition period.

Anh Nguyen was born in Melbourne and now lives and paints in Thirroul on the NSW South Coast, with her partner and 4 children. Her art practice arrived by way of a circuitous route, though she had never really let go of that pencil from the time she made the very first mark. She was awarded the Lyn McCrea Memorial Drawing Prize in 2020, and was also the recipient of the Basil Sellers Art Award in 2018. She has been a finalist in other well-regarded prizes such as the Muswellbrook Art Prize (2023, 2022), Rick Amor Self-Portrait Prize (2022, 2020), Grace Cossington Smith Art Award (2021), Dobell Drawing Prize (2021), Kilgour Art Prize (2020 – Highly Commended).

“Like many of my other show titles, where I have pondered meaning in light of imagery, the word ‘season’ conjures for me a strange but alluring tension. The season can be both fixed or unspecified, it is cyclical but there is a definite ending, it can be wholly defined but also unclear when it began. My feeling towards my pictures are like this. Are they linear, contained, about a certain thing? Or do they meander, partly imagined, partly remembered, partly dreamt? Was it today or yesterday, a longing, something real? ” – Anh Nguyen

Chantel and Angie de Latour are Melbourne-based artists who have joined forces in a duo show featuring landscapes and still lifes. As mother and daughter, the common denominator is a shared experience of place and the parameters that define it.

Angie de Latour’s work is held in private collections in Australia and overseas. Since moving to Melbourne in 2001, she has been a finalist in multiple art prizes, which include the Mosman Art Prize, Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, the Tacit Still Life Prize and the 2023 Salon des Refusés, Wynne selection. Angie holds a Master of Fine Art and a Master of Visual Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, and a Bachelor of Design from Swinburne University, where she taught for 8 years.

Although Angie works across a range of genres, which include landscape and portraiture, still life is the current focus of her painting practice. The process of choosing and arranging objects to paint has become a ritual and she is interested in the particularity of these choices: which vase, flower, light source? These works focus on the rounded, organic forms of vases, bottles and cups, and their function as containers for flowers from the garden.

Chantel de Latour completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts (2011) and a Graduate Certificate in Art History at the University of Melbourne (2018). Chantel has been the recipient of the Gary Fell Award and the Shelmerdine Art Award from the Victorian College of the Arts. She was a finalist in the Lethbridge Art Award in 2021 and the National Emerging Art Prize in 2021 and 2022.

Chantel’s current work continues to explore the demarcation between public and private spaces, seeking out pools and dwellings as subjects.

This series of paintings explores the transitory effects and atmosphere of shifting light as it meanders across these secluded landscapes, accentuating the colours of heat, shade and reflection.

Chantel and Angie de Latour are Melbourne-based artists who have joined forces in a duo show featuring landscapes and still lifes. As mother and daughter, the common denominator is a shared experience of place and the parameters that define it.

Angie de Latour’s work is held in private collections in Australia and overseas. Since moving to Melbourne in 2001, she has been a finalist in multiple art prizes, which include the Mosman Art Prize, Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, the Tacit Still Life Prize and the 2023 Salon des Refusés, Wynne selection. Angie holds a Master of Fine Art and a Master of Visual Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, and a Bachelor of Design from Swinburne University, where she taught for 8 years.

Although Angie works across a range of genres, which include landscape and portraiture, still life is the current focus of her painting practice. The process of choosing and arranging objects to paint has become a ritual and she is interested in the particularity of these choices: which vase, flower, light source? These works focus on the rounded, organic forms of vases, bottles and cups, and their function as containers for flowers from the garden.

Chantel de Latour completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts (2011) and a Graduate Certificate in Art History at the University of Melbourne (2018). Chantel has been the recipient of the Gary Fell Award and the Shelmerdine Art Award from the Victorian College of the Arts. She was a finalist in the Lethbridge Art Award in 2021 and the National Emerging Art Prize in 2021 and 2022.

Chantel’s current work continues to explore the demarcation between public and private spaces, seeking out pools and dwellings as subjects.

This series of paintings explores the transitory effects and atmosphere of shifting light as it meanders across these secluded landscapes, accentuating the colours of heat, shade and reflection.

Chantel and Angie de Latour are Melbourne-based artists who have joined forces in a duo show featuring landscapes and still lifes. As mother and daughter, the common denominator is a shared experience of place and the parameters that define it.

Angie de Latour’s work is held in private collections in Australia and overseas. Since moving to Melbourne in 2001, she has been a finalist in multiple art prizes, which include the Mosman Art Prize, Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, the Tacit Still Life Prize and the 2023 Salon des Refusés, Wynne selection. Angie holds a Master of Fine Art and a Master of Visual Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, and a Bachelor of Design from Swinburne University, where she taught for 8 years.

Although Angie works across a range of genres, which include landscape and portraiture, still life is the current focus of her painting practice. The process of choosing and arranging objects to paint has become a ritual and she is interested in the particularity of these choices: which vase, flower, light source? These works focus on the rounded, organic forms of vases, bottles and cups, and their function as containers for flowers from the garden.

Chantel de Latour completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts (2011) and a Graduate Certificate in Art History at the University of Melbourne (2018). Chantel has been the recipient of the Gary Fell Award and the Shelmerdine Art Award from the Victorian College of the Arts. She was a finalist in the Lethbridge Art Award in 2021 and the National Emerging Art Prize in 2021 and 2022.

Chantel’s current work continues to explore the demarcation between public and private spaces, seeking out pools and dwellings as subjects.

This series of paintings explores the transitory effects and atmosphere of shifting light as it meanders across these secluded landscapes, accentuating the colours of heat, shade and reflection.

Chantel and Angie de Latour are Melbourne-based artists who have joined forces in a duo show featuring landscapes and still lifes. As mother and daughter, the common denominator is a shared experience of place and the parameters that define it.

Angie de Latour’s work is held in private collections in Australia and overseas. Since moving to Melbourne in 2001, she has been a finalist in multiple art prizes, which include the Mosman Art Prize, Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, the Tacit Still Life Prize and the 2023 Salon des Refusés, Wynne selection. Angie holds a Master of Fine Art and a Master of Visual Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, and a Bachelor of Design from Swinburne University, where she taught for 8 years.

Although Angie works across a range of genres, which include landscape and portraiture, still life is the current focus of her painting practice. The process of choosing and arranging objects to paint has become a ritual and she is interested in the particularity of these choices: which vase, flower, light source? These works focus on the rounded, organic forms of vases, bottles and cups, and their function as containers for flowers from the garden.

Chantel de Latour completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts (2011) and a Graduate Certificate in Art History at the University of Melbourne (2018). Chantel has been the recipient of the Gary Fell Award and the Shelmerdine Art Award from the Victorian College of the Arts. She was a finalist in the Lethbridge Art Award in 2021 and the National Emerging Art Prize in 2021 and 2022.

Chantel’s current work continues to explore the demarcation between public and private spaces, seeking out pools and dwellings as subjects.

This series of paintings explores the transitory effects and atmosphere of shifting light as it meanders across these secluded landscapes, accentuating the colours of heat, shade and reflection.

Andrea won the inaugural National Emerging Art Prize in 2021. She has also been a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize 2020, Ravenswood Art Prize 2020, The John Leslie Art Prize 2018 (Best Gippsland Landscape winner), Clyde & Co Graduate Art Prize 2016 (winner), the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2014 and the Nillumbik Prize 2013. After returning to university in 2014, Andrea finished both her BFA and MFA at RMIT (Melbourne) in 2018 and has focused on refining her work and building a strong art practice ever since. Andrea’s work is held in the Gippsland Art Gallery’s permanent collection and of course Morgan’s Financial Art Collection in Sydney with the inaugural NEAP winning piece ‘Flossie’. Most recently, Andrea was highlighted in Vogue Living Australia’sFemale Artists To Watch at This Year’s Affordable Art Fair, Sydney.

Solstice 14 – 24th June

“Snow evokes powerful memories. The crunch of it under foot. Catching the flakes on your tongue. Skiing on a bright blue day. The way it made everything quiet and perfect after the first snowfall. Winter play – the sleds, snowballs, snow angels and snowmen. How good it felt to go inside and warm up when it all got too much. This show coincides with our Winter Solstice and has given me the opportunity to reflect on my life lived in a snow laden country before I settled here. The solstice events twice a year remind me of the dramatic turn that my life has taken. For me it brings memories of Canada, of watching the flakes shimmer in the streetlights as I stood in the dark, waiting for my school bus. Listening to the radio hoping to hear school was cancelled. The fresh foot of snow on the ground when we left our wedding reception. The definitive change of the landscape. Many people in this country come from places where snow in winter was a fact of life, and although many cannot fathom -30c and a blizzard, those of us who do know what the winter can hold keep a special place in our hearts for it”. – Andrea Sinclair

Linda is an Australian artist currently living and working on Bundjalung land. She has a background making screen-based installations for museum exhibitions, and has practised and taught traditional printmaking. Linda has exhibited in a number of group shows in Australia and overseas, and had her first solo show “Vessel” at the Tweed Regional Gallery in 2022. Later that year she was selected for the National Emerging Art Prize “ACB Selects” exhibition. In her current solo show “Inside Story”, Linda celebrates colour, the beauty of interiors, and the play of the familiar and the mysterious in everyday objects.

“On a literal level, the exhibition’s title “Inside story” evokes the interior world of the still life genre, and specifically my house and collected objects. But it also refers to the internal processes involved in painting these still life subjects: observing, imagining, and relating to them in a very focused way, and then expressing and sharing that private experience by rendering it in paint.

I love the still life genre – the way it can simply present objects that are beautiful and comforting, yet it also delivers a kind of strangeness that becomes embedded in the layers of paint through the process of artist/object interaction. Learning how to articulate the beauty and ambiguity is an ongoing pleasure.” – Linda Kruger

An essential part of Julz Beresford’s practice is being in the landscape, to be still and present observing nuances which inform the way she focuses her attention. It is here that Beresford collects her Gouache studies and drawings which later become a critical part of her studio-based work. These ‘Plein Air’ studies refocus her mind back to what had captured her attention. Often Beresford responds to the colour of her subjects and searches for locations where she finds a connection. One which pushes her studio-based practice to rethink the physical application of this expression. She is interested in questioning the physical process of mark making in such a way that translates the observed ‘real’ into an expressive piece of art. She ask’s herself ‘how does the process of mark making translate the essence of the place I’m trying to recreate’?

Beresford’s intent is for the audience to feel engaged with the energy of the landscape. Her works are both an expressive piece of the whole process, and an embodiment of how it actually feels to be there. Her paintings have a sense of intense energy. She paints ‘Alla Prima’ with a vigorous and spirited application challenging herself to remain in the moment and ‘solve’ the painting as a whole.

In this body of work Beresford has once again returned to the memories of her childhood. Contrasting her romantic views of the countryside with the euphoria experienced, while boating on her local waterway. Both landscapes working together building a language of mark marking which inadvertently directs each other. She treats her studio-based practice as a learning journey where she constantly challenges herself on ‘how she sees’ in order to physically interpret her ‘reality’ of the Australian landscape. Moulding a style of storytelling which relay the emotions of her mind. A bold type of realistic expressionism.

The Tablescapes exhibition is a stunning collection of artworks showcasing the creativity of various celebrated artists in our community. Each artwork is a unique interpretation of still life, exploring different styles, colors, and textures. The exhibition is carefully curated to highlight the simplicity of an artistic subject. It’s an exploration of the many different ways objects can be represented, from realistic to abstract interpretations that challenge our perceptions of form and perspective. The Tablescapes exhibition is a must-see for anyone who loves still life and wants to experience the creative expression.

Featuring a fantastic collection of artworks from nine celebrated artists, including Karima Baadilla, Ella Holme, Jennifer Ross, Sam Wilkinson, Sally Browne, Anh Nguyen, Alix Hunter, Louise Anders, and Nick Coulson.The exhibition is a beautiful collection of artworks showcasing the creativity of various celebrated artists in our community. Each artwork is a unique interpretation of still life, exploring different styles, colours, and textures. The exhibition is beautifully curated highlighting the simplicity of still life. It’s an exploration of the many different ways objects can be represented, from realistic to abstract interpretations and challenge our perceptions of form and perspective. Tablescape is a must-see for anyone who loves still life and wants to experience the creative expression from these talented artists.

This exhibition is online only.  Please get in touch to view the works in person.

Born in Malta, Kate Vella is an emerging visual artist, now living in The Southern Highlands of New South Wales.Largely self-taught Vella paints from life, her focus is on depicting florals, fruit and vessels.Working with acrylics, Vella’s work is intuitive and spontaneous with an emphasis on reimagining the still life genre. From a very young age she had a vision to be a painter, but it wasn’t until 2018 when Vella began pursuing her creative career. Vella held her first solo show “ Antidote” in Sydney in 2019.Since then she held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in various group shows and collaborations. Vella was awarded First Prize in, The Agency Still Life Bowral Art Prize 2022 and The Hannah Forbes Memorial Prize 2023. Vella has been twice Finalist in Ravenswood Australian Women Art Prize Emerging Category 2022, 2020, Goulburn Art Award 2022, Meroogal Women’s Art Prize 2020 and Kangaroo Valley Art Prize 2020. Vella was also awarded Highly Commended in The Blue Square Competition 2019 and Commended in Belle Property Bowral Art Prize. Vella’s work is held in private collections in Australia, Internationally and in The Osborn Boutique Hotel in the Southern Highlands.

My work represents a deep connection to the still life genre. Guided by my instinct, I focus on depicting table scenes arrangements of ordinary everyday objects I feel emotionally drawn to. I find endless inspiration in flowers, fruit, antique and vintage kitchenware that have been passed down through generations, aiming to give them a new life and identity. I have the freedom to work loosely building on multiple layers. Working in a non- traditional style and technique; I aim for a pentimento result, painting over earlier brushwork only leaving faint traces to be seen. I continue to explore with light, colour, shapes and scale with a focus on developing a fresh take on still life, and working at capturing moments of joy and beauty in everyday life.

Raised in Oakland California, Emily first moved to Australia in 2005 and now splits her time between downtown Sydney and Gunning NSW. Her limited-release cityscapes explore Sydney’s historic surrounds. Rhythm, light and pattern inform and elevate everyday moments, and the work allows viewers to share in her personal visual narrative. ‘Emily in Glebe’ follows three sold out solo shows in 2021 and 2022. Emily was also a finalist in the 2021 National Emerging Art Prize, as well as a previous Mosman Art Prize finalist, and is represented by Michael Reid Northern Beaches.

Emily in Glebe’ celebrates the jubilance of post-lockdown Sydney (on Wangal and Gadigal land), wandering sun-soaked streets and jumbled back alleys with her singular observations of urban living. The paintings were developed from a series of inquiries undertaken in late 2022 – Emily’s “Glebe Residency” – unearthing quiet gems from the inner-city enclave. These new works burst with light, colour and rhythm – with the freshness of exploration and joys of discovery.

Emily Cullinan is a trailblazing artist who, at 70 years old, has spent a lifetime capturing the essence of her people and culture through her paintings. As one of the most senior women in the community, Emily has been an integral part of the Iwantja art scene for many years, but it is only recently that she has experienced a real breakthrough in her painting practice.
Emily’s latest works, titled ‘Ananyi Ngura – Travelling Country’, are a beautiful tribute to her early years. They are inspired by her memories of traveling vast distances on foot across the APY Lands with her family. As she paints, she shares stories of the old ways, of a time when there were no cars, and people lived barefoot, traveling around the bush to collect food and hunt for game.
Listening to Emily is like stepping back in time, to a world where the land was everything, and survival depended on the knowledge passed down from generation to generation. She speaks of the places she visited, the foods she ate, and the joys and hardships of life on the road. She remembers the wagons, pulled by camels, that would take them to new places, and the times they would travel in groups, singing and sharing stories around the campfire.
For Emily, painting is a way of keeping those memories alive, of preserving a way of life that is in danger of being forgotten. She takes small paintings and experiments with her palette and mark-making, infusing each piece with the colours and textures of the land she loves. Her works are a testament to the power of art to connect us to our past, and to remind us of the beauty and resilience of the human spirit.