Galah arts editor, Fiona Bateman, cherrypicks new works by Australian contemporary artists.
This work was painted while Snaith was working in a derelict house in Melbourne’s North Fitzroy, where she sensed the presence of past inhabitants. “I felt the house had a resilient female energy that found its way into many of the paintings,” she says. “The works may be seen as an exploration of the complex feelings women experience in the home, from joy through to fear and grief.”
@taisnaith @nicholasthompsongallery
Revolutionary compost (2024), oil on linen, 102 x 66 cm
I love this paint-splattered apron, and the concept of a painter painting the painter. We see no face but there’s a landscape dotted by acacias sitting between the artist’s hands. “The intention was to reference care for the environment and the landscape, without making a landscape painting,” Davies writes.
The Painter (2024), oil on linen, 30.5 x 40.5 cm
This work from Merrett’s recent exhibition, Fathom and Feet, explores the concept of the fathom – the way we measure ocean depth. She followed this thought after reading an essay, also titled Fathom, sent to her by a marine ecologist friend and fellow ocean swimmer. “My paintings acknowledge that art creation is inherently collaborative,” she says.
How to sit for trees (2024), acrylic and plant-dyed thread on cotton, 70 x 50 cm
From the Ampilatwatja community, 325 kilometres north-east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney paints her grandmother’s Country. Wildflowers are bursting forth in this glorious work. “When I look at the distant hills, I can feel my grandmother,” she says. “Bush flowers are everywhere.”
@yaamaganugallery @artists_of_ampilatwatja
My Grandmothers country (2024), acrylic on linen, 61 x 61 cm
Giving herself a set of rules, Besser worked with waxy coloured pencils to create this gorgeous geometric work. One of the rules was that elements needed to move between foreground, middle-ground and background, and Besser achieves this beautifully here, creating an intimate sense of energy and movement.
Algorithm 1 Fragment (2024), wax and colour pigment on paper, 30 x 21 cm
All Dunn’s experiences inform her work, from growing up on the New South Wales mid-north coast to spending a month-long residency in a village in the Alentejo region of Portugal last year. She paints figurative, narrative works where the story is ever-shifting through time and memory. When describing her process on previous works, Dunn said: “I like to work on various paintings at a time, bouncing between them, letting the paintings inform one another.”
@ellardunn @sophiegannongallery
Looking out and you are there (2024), oil on linen, 150 x 120 cm
In this piece, we see Greenwood continuing to explore the human geography of Australian pub culture. The empty stool and schooner suggest the recently departed among the cinematic darkness and neon colours. Despite there being no figures in this scene, we feel their presence. Greenwood uses a technique of loading her brush with colours before applying them to the blackened canvas, creating an atmospheric yet familiar glow.
@hollywgreenwood @olsen_gallery
The Serpent (2024), oil on canvas, 137 x 180 cm
The objects in McCall’s still lifes are cast in the most heavenly glow, showing a domestic scene yet elevating it to be somehow ethereal. Maybe we’re in our most spiritual moments when performing these daily rituals. “These little vignettes rendered in oil paint – my sleeves rolled up, approached with purpose and affection – convey, I hope, the hand of the maker,” says McCall.
@staceymccallart @michaelreid.southernhighlands @boomgallery
Light Falling Through A Goblet (2024), oil on board, 37 x 34 cm
