artrium

Untitled – Rock and Blanket, 2024

This work is part of an ongoing series exploring the concept of life and humanity, focusing on the essential human need for connection, reflection, and healing. Untitled – Rock and Blanket (2024), composed of copper, wool blanket, Mallee limestone, and Murray River salt, examines the trials and tribulations of existence—growth, emotion, conflict, and mortality—while emphasising the dual forces of building and healing. Rooted in the landscapes and memories of the Mallee region, the work deepens the dialogue between land, self, and humanity. The use of materials like copper, which oxidises over time, symbolises humanity's small yet impactful role within the ecosystem, highlighting the tension between human development and environmental exploitation. The inclusion of saltwater preserves the fabric and encasing, reinforcing themes of healing and growth as the work evolves over the period it is displayed.

 Chubby Bunny in A Box, 2024

As an arts educator (visual arts teacher Primary School) I exhibit each year in the Art Directions exhibition showcasing arts educators of Sunraysia. In 2024 I exhibited “Chubby Bunny in A Box” which was a a fluid acrylic paint drip plastic bunny which begged the question…. What is art? To encourage engagement from viewers I propose to exhibit Chubby Bunny and include a QR code that can be accessed with the question ….Is this art? Viewers can answer via the QR code, and the results will be collated, then displayed with Chubby Bunny at the end of the display time.

 Foreign, 2025

A sculptural work that arose from a small doll excavated from beneath an Elm tree in the backyard of the family home with the word ‘foreign’ stamped into its back. It seemed like a sign or a message that I attributed to the way we all seek connection to country and language unearthed and belonging to our own intimate geographies. 

 Not all Superheroes Wear Capes, 2025

Not All Superheroes Wear Capes reimagines the archetypal superhero, stripping away the rigid symbols of masculinity to explore gender fluidity, transformation, and evolving identity. By painting Superman white and embellishing him with florals, the work subverts traditional ideals of heroism and strength, inviting a conversation about the shifting nature of masculinity and the dissolution of outdated gender constructs.

This multidisciplinary work examines the intersecting milestones of childhood, masculinity, domesticity, and sexuality. Through the lens of boy/manhood, it interrogates how masculinity is both shaped by and reflected within domestic spaces. By recontextualising a familiar symbol and removing gendered associations—such as stereotypical colours and childhood iconography—the work renders identity mutable, allowing new interpretations to emerge.

Not All Superheroes Wear Capes confronts the socio-political tensions of contemporary gender discourse from a queer perspective. It challenges the historically fraught relationship between masculinity and rationality, deconstructing rigid structures and proposing a more fluid, inclusive understanding of identity.

Fruit Bowl, 2025

This work focusses on my memories of growing up on a hobby farm in Nichols Point, Victoria.

Gone are the days of drying fruit on racks. However, it was commonplace when I was growing up. When there were family fruit properties known a “blocks”.

I, like my siblings, was involved in the entire process of producing dried sultanas. Pruning vines on in the icy, wintery mornings. Helping with the watering of the vines and then in the hot summer months, driving the red Ferguson tractor or picking the grapes into the container known as “dip tins”.

It was hard work - work that I never became accustomed to. I was often found by my Mum cutting out patterns in the vine leaves or making little sculptures from the rich, red loam. I had determined that a picker’s knife was not only for picking grapes!

I loved the morning and afternoon teas. Often, they consisted of freshly made tomato sandwiches, billy tea and a homemade slice or jam drop biscuits.

I loved being able to be cool off for a swim in the adjacent irrigation channel. I would sneak over to our neighbour’s farm and pinch some of the succulent, juicy oranges on display.

I loved the end of season. Once the grapes had dried into sweet, dried up morsels they would be shaken down from the drying racks, raked and laid on the black plastic several metre long sheets to soak up the sun in the day.

At night, they would be blanketed from the night air with bricks. The sultanas were then placed  into wooden  “sweat” boxes awaiting collection to be weighed and packed at the Mildura Co-operative Fruit Company.

For me, the primary memories provoke a smell of fresh fruit- sprinklers making their gentle news and creating a space. Big blue skies. Rust and laughter.

Inherited, 2025

Contained within this cube, are composited shapes of claw foot baths and water fountains where the exterior decorative embellishments are extracted details from a family collection of porcelain and enamel pieces.  

I’ve been fortunate to grow up surrounded by objects, remnants and treasures lovingly passed down from ancestors of the Victorian era who voyaged long and far to start new lives in a new country. 

These motifs are repetitious, and the surface upon which they sit is built upon layers and simply serve as aide-memoires of the importance of understanding whether through abundance or lack, that water is a precious resource that deserves significant respect. 

After Milton Moon, 2025

Working all my adult life I decided to have a change and retire. I decided to do art at La Trobe Mildura. Painting is my first love but I had the opportunity to try pottery. I gave this a go and my very first piece was this tile.
 

I have a couple of vases made by Milton Moon which gave me the idea of what colours and style I liked. I then painted on the glazes and  placed the tile in the furnace. This was the result.
 

I would like to thank GalleryF Inc. for making Artrium possible.

 

Barka, 2025

Plant dyes, soluble pigment and pastel on paper.

I am part of a small drawing group which meets at “Tara” on the banks of the Barka. Our generous

host, Steve, is a quiet influence on our work, as we explore our ideas, chat together and enjoy being

in the presence of the river and its ancient gums. This work is inspired by these times, by the

shapes, forms, colours and the spirit of the ever-present Barka, and the land it flows through.

I enjoy experimenting with natural pigments and dyes that come from local plants. In this work I

have dyed the paper with colour made from soaking mistletoe leaves in water. I’ve also used the

fruit from ruby saltbush which, when squished onto the paper gives a pink colour that fades to

grey/green, looking like scratchy blobs of saltbush on the sand.

I love the concept “everything’s connected”, and my drawings celebrate our connectedness to the

land and to our fellow creatives.

Murray River Treasure Chest, 2025

Found object (yabby net), felt, beads, sequins.

This work celebrates the humble yabby (cherax destructor) and aims to reframe the species as a valued treasure. Although a common enough sight in Sunraysia, and throughout most of Victoria, yabbies are listed as a vulnerable species. The yabbies represented in Murray River Treasure Chest are colourful and bejewelled, redolent with the shine and sparkle of sunken treasure. The yabby net has also been embellished, and now, rather than being a tool for the capture and consumption of yabbies, it has become the means of housing and displaying them.

Circles and Folds, 2025

This work consists of an origami fold ceramic bowl/vessel that sits on a decorative abstract colour pencil drawing of my own design.

Wire, Wood & clay, 2025

Beauty in the Mallee is captured through the strength of wire and wood, intertwined to form a bouquet in a clay vessel.

Wandering dusty tracks, I collect wire that nature has shaped into its own masterpieces. Along these paths, bush flowers bloom and cool, earthy banks of clay line the Murray River.

This work celebrates the raw, rugged harmony of the Mallee landscape, where the resilience of natural materials is the beauty of the bush.