Next on my gallery tour is a visit to the grand exhibition, Wild/flower Women III: Women Walking Country - this show was at the
Gympie Regional Gallery last month ( November ) - I didn't get to see it until the second last day and so wasn't able to promote it earlier - but here is a "retrospective" of the exhibition for those who didn't get there ...
Perched high on the hill in Nash Street and over-looking the township is the beautiful and original old School of Arts building - built in 1905 - now home to the Gympie Regional Art Gallery ... a community-oriented gallery, celebrating its own professional and amateur artists, as well as displaying a range of high quality exhibitions from around Australia.
The
exhibition celebrates the work of Kathleen McArthur, who was an artist and
conservationist who specialised in painting Queensland wildflowers. She is also
well-known for being one of the founding members of the Wildlife Preservation
Society of Queensland along with her friend, poet Judith Wright.
Together they began the campaign to establish Cooloola National Park, working
with conservationist Arthur Harrold, the Cooloola Committee, the Noosa Parks
Association, and many other allies.
To
profile the living legacy of women, art and Queensland wildflowers,
contemporary artists from Gympie, Noosa and Sunshine Coast created new work
ranging from paintings, prints, works on paper, and jewellery to textile works
using natural dyes, recycled textiles, and wall vinyl.
Zela Bissett - Garment Stories - felted textile wraps
Barb Hart - Grasstree Spikes, 2020 - waste material sculptures
Judy Barrass - Paper Dolls - laser print on paper
" ... This exhibition
draws inspiration from the heritage of women who have walked Cooloola country
from Traditional Owners as well as ‘wild/flower women’ Kathleen McArthur and
Judith Wright, including their campaigning to establish Cooloola National Park.
The exhibition profiles contemporary female artists from Gympie, Noosa and the
Sunshine Coast who re-energise heritage and history with their own
responses to our wildflowers, natural heritage and walking together on country.
Wild/flower Women III creates
a sense of the different perspectives, scales and scope of the wallum and
Cooloola ecologies, the relationships between humans and the more than human
world, and ways of seeing inspired by art and nature ... "
Sandra Ross - Wallum Wildflowers - mixed media on paper
Melissa Stannard - come go walk and care for country
