above: 2023 studio photos by Sammy Hawker
I am fortunate to live and work on Ngunnawal Country in Kamberri/Canberra, Australia.
Inspired by the natural environment of the broader region, I combine watercolour, drawing and printmaking processes to create intricate and immersive works on paper. Through large-scale watercolour monotype prints, I seek to convey the humbling and restorative experience of walking in nature, with a focus on the threshold of rock and water. My recent ‘Endurance’ series centred on the environment of Guarella/Guerilla Bay, Yuin Country (South Coast, NSW) - a beautiful and powerful place that evokes memories of meaningful time spent with my immediate family in the last summer of my mother’s life. This body of work has seen me plumb the depths of the colour blue, referencing its relationship to emotion and distance.
My work has attracted national recognition. In 2023 I was recipient of the Mandy Martin Art and Environment Award, in 2022 I was a finalist in the inaugural Ellen José Art Award at Bayside Gallery, Victoria and recipient of the Broken Hill City Art Gallery’s Open Cut Commission. In 2021 I was Winner of the Burnie Print Prize (Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Tasmania) and in 2020 I was Winner of the Fisher’s Ghost Art Award (Campbelltown Art Centre) and the National Works on Paper prize (Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery).
I graduated from the A.N.U. School of Art & Design (Printmedia and Drawing, First Class Honours, 2010) after undertaking a liberal arts education on scholarship at Morgan State University, Baltimore, USA (2005 – 2009). My artistic interests have been nurtured by field-based residencies and cultural exchanges, particularly the Embassy of Spain’s Torres Travelling Scholarship (2011), Bathurst Regional Gallery’s Hill End Residency (2015), CraftACT’s Spring Residency in Namadgi National Park (2019) and The Bundian Way Arts Exchange on Yuin Country (2019).
My work is represented by Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne.