2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019 Past Exhibitions | Childers Arts Space

30 years on from their graduating exhibition, artists Fiona Dyer, Julie Middleton and Shelley Pisani are reuniting to share the stories of what has kept their creative cup full through painting, textiles, ceramics and mixed media works. 3 Cups Full is a celebration of this journey and the people, places, conversations and memories that have inspired them in their arts practices.

Now living in Weipa, the Gold Coast and Bundaberg, the artists reunited for a residency at Kepnock State High School in April 2022 to begin the concept development process and draw their work together under the guidance of mentor Jennifer McDuff.

Image: Fiona Dyer – April Residency at Kepnock State High School. Photograph by Sabrina Lauriston.

Supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, this inspiring touring exhibition showcases the work of 33 professional artists, some of whom possess complex and profound disabilities.

The artists are:

Christine Baillie, Jonathon Baldwin, Jacob Bradshaw, James Clark, Kristi Cochrane, Bevon Diver, Michael Doust, Cara Dunstan, Jennifer Duperouzel, Robert Gallagher, Anne Higginson, Tonia Hoffman, William Hunt, Nathan Langdown, Justin Lavender, Reece Lockrey, Kim Marshall, Liam McMahon, Robert Oakman, Jeff Parkinson, Christopher Paul, Peter Phillips, Christopher Pitot, Jeremy Ruckels, Elizabeth Saunders, Vanessa Spagna, Beverley Stack, Scott Stanton, Daniel Swart, Christine Tweedale, Richard Uil, Genice Wolski and Sara Wyatt.

Reasonable & Necessary: prints and artist books by Artel Artists is an initiative of Museums & Galleries Queensland in partnership with CPL and curated by Lynne Seear. This project has been supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland; the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory governments; and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. The project is proudly sponsored by Hutchinson Builders and Moreton Bay Regional Council.

Image: Sara Wyatt, Plane trip to Tasmania (detail), 2016, etching and aquatint, 100 x 345 mm. Courtesy of the artist and Artel. Photograph: Vanessa Xerri.

Meeting History in Miniature by Childers based artist, Marilyn Murray, follows on from her successful exhibition Memories in Miniature at Gatakers Arts Space. With no work larger than 8.9cm x 6.4cm, this display of 100 framed paintings takes the viewer on a visual tour of South East Queensland.

In her delightful style, Murray depicts meeting places she has come across in her travels around regional Australia in her caravan. Since Covid-19, these travels have become more localised, but that has not stopped Murray in finding inspiration in the landscapes she encounters. Country churches, community halls, pubs, old picture theatres have all been immortalised in these beautifully executed miniatures.

Image: Marilyn Murray, Childers Grand Hotel Front Door (detail), 2020, acrylic, 6.4 x 8.9cm

John Andersen is a painter and a colourist, using colour in a special and skilful way to evoke the imagination. Having lived his life traveling widely through regional and metropolitan Australia, John is now based at Woodgate Beach, near Childers.

His latest exhibition Colour Ways is indicative of his abstract and often impressionistic style, and features a range of mediums, including acrylics and gouache. The subject matter - nature in landscapes - is captured with expressive and intuitive marks that ignite the imagination and let the viewer interpret the work through their own lens.

John Andersen, North South Connection, 2021, watercolour gouache, 28 x 20cm.

Unlemon – a meandering tale of citrus reveals a multilayered story of citrus – its origins, trajectory, diversity and tenacity.

Featuring the work of South Australian artist, Alison Mitchell, this exhibition of over 40 still-life oil paintings unfolds the story of citrus.  From its origins approximately 20 million years ago on the Gondwana supercontinent, through its trade routes from China and Persia to the Mediterranean and the Americas, and on to its uses in medicine and culinary practices, the humble citrus is elevated in this exquisite exhibition.

Unlemon - a meandering tale of citrus was first exhibited in the Museum of Economic Botany at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, and Childers Arts Space is exclusive venue for this exhibition in Queensland.

Image: Alison Mitchell, Sting Bag 2020, oil on linen, 40 x 60 cm.

Myths and Legends of the Australian Bush is about the stories, myths, creatures and the eccentricities that showcase the unique humour and tales of the Australian bush. For the exhibition, each artist provided an individual interpretation of Bush legends, thereby producing a series of mini exhibitions within the greater whole. Art journals, used to record and develop ideas, and narrate the individual artistic journey, are also featured in the exhibition as unique works.

Image: Kym Connell, Magpie Goose, mixed media.

She/Her/Hers is a gallery curated exhibition that shines a light on inspiring women from the Bundaberg Region.  

Photographers from across Australia were invited to submit portrait photographs of someone who identifies as a woman, and who has a significant connection to the Bundaberg Region.  Submissions had to be accompanied by a statement that reflected the story of the subject and this was as important as the artwork in the final selection.  
The resulting exhibition reflects the incredible diversity of women within our region and is a tribute not only to those women featured as subjects but also to the photographers who captured their stories.

Image: David Graham, The Violinist, photographic image.

Now in its third year, the HERE + now exhibition is a gallery curated group exhibition of Artists from the Bundaberg region.
With works created from 1 July 2020, it reflects artist’s current practice and showcases our strong and vibrant creative community, providing a longitudinal view of the local arts scene.

Artists: Annette Tyson, Ariella Anderson, Carmen Maybanks, Caroline Palmer, Cate Verney, Chris Poulsen, Donna Lamprecht, Edwina Rowan, Jay Feather, John Anderson, Julie Hylands, Kellie McHugh, Kym Connell, Maggie Spenceley, Nita Rosher, Paul Perry, Rachel Williams, Rosalee Morris, Ross Driver, Shawnee Dean, Siobhan Lowth and Stuart Chapman.

Reef Gems and Coral Roses is a collection of works by Hadie MacLeod, inspired by her experiences snorkelling in some of our amazing local and far-flung coral reefs: from Bargara to Lady Elliott and Lady Musgrave Islands, to Heron Island and Indonesia’s Krakatoa.

Hadie’s work reflects the beauty of the reef in wearable crochet art. Her rings, necklaces and other flotsam and jetsam dazzle and distract – with the shapes of corals and other reef animals. Some of these works are brightly coloured – some look bleached – a sign of the damage being done to the reef and our oceans from our world-wide pollution. Outside the reef, mountains of plastic threaten and entangle sea creatures.

Hadie’s interest in crochet jewellery started as a desire to create light-weight jewellery for herself after open heart surgery. She draws inspiration from the Crochet Coral Reef Project (crochetcoralreef.org) which is an amazing collaboration of mathematics, biology, and fibre arts.  Hadie is a member of the Childers Visual Arts Group, Yarning Bundaberg and a foundation member of the Crochet Guild Australia.

The Egmont Schmidt Collection is an extremely valuable section of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries’ Collection.
Dr Egmont Schmidt was a well respected doctor in the Bundaberg region in the early 20th Century and founder of Linden Clinic.

The Tradelines exhibition features over thirty artists with a connection to Wakka Wakka, Gubbi Gubbi, Butchulla, Gooreng Gooreng, Taribelang Bunda, Gurang, Byellee and Darumbal country. Showcasing the diverse range of Indigenous art practice found in Southern and Central Queensland this exhibition is not to be missed.

Images: Dylan Sarrra, Portrait 1, 2 and 3 (detail) 2019, printed on Japanese Kitikata Select + Bianca Beeston, Bunya Nut Necklace, 2019.

Art as an Act of Optimism is a retrospective of the #artsbundyathome initiative and the artworks created by various artists and members of the community during the galleries shutdown due to COVID-19.

Image: Susan Hutton, artist pod studio, 2020, installation from Art as an Act of Optimism, Childers Arts Space.

Combining thoughtful consideration of composition and attention to detail, Sybil Curtis’ paintings present a survey of a moment in time, capturing the serenity and personality of industrial, agricultural and mining structures that are mostly made from simple geometric forms.

Through use of a process comprised of seeking out city-based and regional locations for subject matter, many of which have since changed drastically or no-longer exist, to then taking preliminary photographs to capture built environments which then inform the underlying structure of each painting. Addition and subtraction methods are then used to produce a coherent and visually intriguing artwork.

Presenting a body of work from a career spanning decades, each painting is intriguing and rich with detail, exploring the history of the artist’s practice along with the history of our changing industrial landscape.

Represented by May Space Gallery.

Image: Sybil Curtis, Modules (detail), 2016, oil on linen, 125 x 125cm. Sybil Curtis, Komatsu Again (detail), 2011, oil on linen - triptych, 90 x 90cm.
 

Land explores the ongoing themes of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection. It will feature historic works by seminal Australian artists including Vida Lahey from the Dr. Egmont Schmidt Memorial Collection. Land examines the way that country continues to shape our understanding of place and identity in contemporary Australia. In bringing these works together Land extends the ongoing conversation on issues of conservation, politics and representation present in each.

Images: Vida Francis Lahey, Pontville, Tasmania, 1923 – 1924, oil on canvas on board and Charles Blackman, Icons of Queensland (detail), pen and ink, 1979.

The beauty in the often less appreciated and unnoticed natural wonders beneath our feet are the source of inspiration for this body of work. Under Foot Revisited seeks to draw attention to the intricacies of natural debris. The colour, shape and textural qualities of leaves in their dying stages, fallen bark and twigs of this environment are complex and intriguing. These elements are often either un-noticed or considered green rubbish. Artist Mary Elizabeth Barron re-contextualises these elements using these natural materials and drawing inspiration from their presentation.

Top Image © Shrines to Nature, 2014 – 2018, sticks, twine, plant fibre paper. Photo credit Rod Buchholtz.
Side Image © Under Foot, series of five wall hangings, 2013, plant fibre papers, stick, banana trunk fibre cord, photo credit Rod Buchholtz.

HERE + now presents the work of thirty-two arts practitioners from the vibrant region of Bundaberg exhibited at Childers Art Space. This exhibition encompasses painting, installation, drawing, photography, performance, pottery, wood-turning, glass work and jewellery. In combining these works HERE+now explores the relationships between these artists and the cultural landscape of the region.

Above Image: © Nicole Jakins, In Search of the Goddess (an imagined journey) (detail), 2018, copper, paper clay, mussel shells, leather, waxed linen thread, natural pigments (charcoal, eucalyptus tree sap) 40 x 47 x 21cm.
Side Image: © Des Allen, Dashboard No. 9 (detail), self made charcoal on paper, 73 x 53 cm (framed).