About the artist

An Morison, b 1957

An Morison is from and of the Australian country and bush. Her childhood in Inverell had a freedom that fostered her embrace of nature and earth, animals, people and visual arts.

An works with rare woods, stone and precious metal to create wearable designs of strength, simplicity and beauty. Hardwoods such as ebony, rosewood, maple, and eucalyptus burl are combined with sterling silver, stone, and resin to create unique neck-pieces, pendants, earrings, wrist rings, rings and other body art.

Her contemporary jewellery design is influenced by, among others, Richard Long and the sculptural forms ofAndy Goldsworthy and theminimalist combination of space and line expressed and found in art, architecture and landscape.

Originally trained in Spain as a Montessori teacher, An’s design skills have been honed during courses in modern bespoke shoe making and design, silver smithing and a period of collaboration in design and craft with Ben Hall, an architect, artist, craftsman and designer.

An’s work has been exhibited by galleries in Western Australia, Melbourne, and Sydney and is in many private collections.

View more of An's jewellery here.

Phaptawan trained as a mural painter with her father, and led a team of mural painters that worked extensively in Buddhist temples throughout Thailand. She was also involved in the women artists group Womanifesto.  Phaptawan relocated to Australia in 1996 and continues to createcontemporary art works which have been shown in Thailand, Australia, and internationally.

International group exhibition:-

2012 All our relations 18th Biennale of Sydney (artistic directors: Catherine de Zegher and Gerald McMaster)

2005-2006 Open Letter touring exhibition, April -Gallery 4A, Sydney, August -National Gallery of Thailand, October -The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, February 2006 -The National Gallery of Malaysia

2000  July-September, El Poder de Narrar [The Power of Narration, with nine artists from eight countries, catalogue texts by Kevin Power, Patrick Flores and Trinh Minh Ha], Espai d’art Contemporani de Castelló, Valenciana, Spain.

Works in public collections includes Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Bank Sydney, Thai Embassy Paris and private collection in New York, Australia, Europe, Hong Kong and Thailand. Work Three World 1 was presented by Prime Minister of Australia to Prime Minister of Thailand at The Parliament House, Canberra to commemorate 60th Anniversary Australia-Thailand diplomacy relation in 2012

Korean born Yiwon Park lives and works in Sydney and Seoul.She was a finalist in the Tim Olson Drawing prize  over four years between 2009 and 2013 as she completed her graduate and masters degrees.  Yiwon has built an impressive CV including her 2015 exhibition Mythical Truth at Mosman Art gallery at Mosman Art Gallery.  She was winner of the Korea-Australia Art Foundation Prize in 2013.

She writes: 'My art practice materializes the process of exploring individual and shared insecurities. The concept of the ‘unknown familiar’ is a method to explore subjective image making within both the individual sensitivity and the collective unconscious. Autobiographical narratives are explored through personal symbols in drawing, painting, sculpture and installation. I consider myself as a subject matter and also a medium to engage with various realms of reality. Metaphoric tales through both personal and archetypal symbols explore the feelings of insecurity in otherness and between-ness. Creating alter egos by disguising my personal symbols is my own rite to ‘discovering my own myths’ in my time.'

 Mythical truth: Black swan

The series of drawings and the drawing animation project exploring personal narrative that delves into superstition and religion, melancholia and mourning relates to feeling of insecurity. Black swan as a metaphor of the uncertainty, visual narratives weave the feelings reflecting questions about conflicting identity, social issues such as man made disaster and humanity.

A graduate of the College of Fine Arts (COFA) - now UNSW Art & Design - Jessica completed a Bachelor of Design in 2013. Majoring in jewellery, furniture and lighting design, her artwork encompasses her understanding of all three as she translates her unique vision of the world into arresting, abstract paintings.

“My art practice is largely based on the beauty of layering. I build up various colours and textures to create pieces that have depth. I like to work in acrylic as a base and then move into oils to thicken up the top layers. The mix of the two allows me to create dimensions in each work.”

Sharonne Solk studied art at Brighton Faculty of Fine Art Art was chosen to exhibit at the prestigious ‘Great British and Dutch New Contemporaries’ in 1991.in the UK

For the two decades post college, Sharonne used her creative sensibilities to develop animated characters for both George Lucas in the USA, and George Miller in Australia, on movies such as Star Wars, The Mummy, and Happy Feet 2. 

In 2012 she returned to her art practice, immersing herself  in the sensation of colour.  She writes: "I want colour to be the hero, to speak for itself, and so my images are abstract and pure, with hand-painted horizontal lines; a simple geometry with an imperfect human edge.  I use oil on canvas, layering multiple glazes to heighten resonance, intensity and translucency, creating paintings that seek the exquisite."

Anne Spencer (BA Dip. Ed. - Macq Uni) is a Sydney based artist whose artwork continues to attract a strong following since her first exhibition ‘Luminosity’ in 2005 at Newport Artworks; a sellout of 24 paintings,

In 2012 she returned to her art practice, immersing herselfin the sensation of colour. 

Corot, quoted by Wolf Kahn (USA 2013) famously said"an artist thinks with a brush in his hand".

She writes: I think with a brush in my hand. I need a brush to think. The process begins with that brush, the thinking begins with that brush and I paint what I feel about what I have witnessed.  This witnessing is usually a celebration, a celebration of the joy of being there , expressed in oil paint from memory and imagination. Thus vibrant swatches of colours, warms and cools, juxtaposed, often mixed from just a few tubes of paint colour, strong line, free and expressive , movement; and where it fits- a whimsical edge to my work. JOY.

”One such witnessing which stimulated my eagerness to paint refugees' abandoned at sea-21st century',  was an exhibition in NYC of a series of work on the Raft of the Medusa - by Martin Kippenberger, done not long before his death in 1996 at the age of 44. His work was based on Theodore Gericault's Raft of the Medusa (1819) , immortalising a French national tragedy in 1816 when a raft carrying 147 survivors from a sinking French frigate was cut loose from the lifeboats carrying the survivors with more status,--- with no oars, rudder, sail, food etc and left for 13 days abandoned at sea. 17 survived. A dreadful murder of innocent lives but in the hands of Kippenberger , a monumental tour de force of contemporary art.   I loved it. It struck a nerve and I wanted to paint my version, so poignant today, 200 years later than the tragedy. Two versions inspired by these works are displayed in this Exhibition.

Sally Stokes is a Sydney based artist with a prolific exhibiting history in NSW.  Trained at Flinders University in Fine Arts, and with further education at the National Art School.  Sally's canvases are vibrant abstract renditions of Australia's natural beauty.  Elizabeth Fortescue wrote in the Sydney Daily Telegraph in 2014:

During the last three winters, Sally Stokes undertook journeys to more than a dozen of Australia’s most visually stunning and remote locations. In Western Australia, Stokes witnessed British artist Antony Gormley’s uncanny sculptures stalking across the white salt vastness of Lake Ballard. She was captivated by the stripy sandstone domes at Purnululu, and by the Tunnel Creek cave system which lies beneath the Napier Range. She visited the extraordinary stepped waterfall of Bell Gorge in the Kimberley, and the Wolfe Creek Crater whose mystical appearance gave rise to indigenous dreaming stories. In the Northern Territory, Stokes visited the West Macdonnells near Ormiston. She saw the indigenous rock engravings of Ndhala Gorge and the rockpools of Hancock Gorge in Karijini National Park. At Gunlom Falls in Kakadu National Park, she stood on the rocks above the area’s famous 30-metre waterfall. There were other locations, as well. Together, they provided a deep well of inspiration which Stokes carried back to her studio in Dural, northwest of Sydney. With the visual impact of her travels fresh in her mind, and with photographs and sketchbooks as aides memoires, Stokes slowly and meditatively created the large suite of paintings from which this exhibition has been selected. It is so easy to find joy, spirituality and the love of life in all of Stokes’ paintings. They exhale the sheer delight of the artist as she allows her extraordinary outback journey to permeate her entire being and to be reborn in these remarkable paintings which speak so eloquently of a life devoted to art. These paintings are not careful renderings of the Australian scenery — they are a visceral and heartfelt response in colour, line and texture to the never-ending gravity of the outback. Click here to see more of Sally's work

Neil Wilson is a Sydney based art collector and photographer.  Neil's rendering of domestic scenes. are the centrepiece of his work. What intrigues us is the composition, drama and individuality of these images.

Artist Biography – Maria Christou

Creating and developing work from a space at the Lennox Street Studios, Maria has been in numerous solo exhibitions and group shows both nationally and internationally. Her work is included in both private and corporate collections.

She was a finalist in several awards including The Art on the Rocks project two years in a row and the Fisher’s ghost art award for four years in a row. In 2002 she was awarded the Circus Solarus encouragement award and in the same year she also received the Denise Hickey studio residency at the Cite International des Arts in Paris, from the Art Gallery of NSW. 

Maria was back at the Cite International des Arts in 2013 through a French cultural residency program, where several of the images in the exhibition were created.

Shan Shan is a jewellery and object artist; she graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Arts degree majoring in Jewellery and Object Design from the University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts in 2006. In 2010, she returned to Sydney to pursue her Honours studies along side developing her jewellery and object artist career.

In 2010, Shan Shan has awarded the Zelda Stedman Young Student Scholarship from The University of Sydney and she has also been awarded first place in the Art-Environment/People category, University of Sydney Union Photography, Art, Literature and Music (PALM) Awards.

Shan Shan has also been awarded/ selected as finalist in international art and design awards including: 2nd Runner up – Ring. Buyers’ Favorite Jewelry Design Competition 2009 (HKJMA, Hong Kong). Finalist in EnlightenedTM - Swarovski Elements Passion Topaz Jewellery Design Competition 2008/9. Finalist in BKV- Prize 2007,(BayerischerKunstgewerbe-Verein e. V, Munich, Germany).

Shan Shan’s work is showcasing and selling in 13 galleries in Australia. She will keep extend her business/career and bring her innovative design-artwork to the public.

Helen Mok is a jewellery and object artist. Helen graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Arts Honours degree, majoring in Jewellery and Object Design from the University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts in 2009. During her study she was awarded an exchange program to further study jewellery design in ‘Alberta College of the Arts’ in Canada. 

Helen was involved in numerous of exhibitions and events including selected to participate in Art Month Sydney Speed Dating (gallery owners/directors) Event 2012. Exhibited at 2011 Contemporary Wearable Biennial jewellery Exhibition at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery. The 2010 Emerging ward exhibited in both Sydney and Perth galleries and finalist in the Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Artists travel scholarship exhibition. She also exhibited her works in MCA in the Environmental Group Show, ‘Foot Print’ 2009. ‘Live Green House’ and City of Sydney- ‘Live Green House’, ‘Art and About’ promotion of environmental art and design.

Her works were publicised in ‘Craft Arts International Australia Magazine, in the ‘JAA Jewellery Trade Magazine’, the ‘New Time Magazine’, the ‘Contemporary Visual Art=Culture Broadsheet’, Graduate Metal 12 Perth Western Australia 2010 exhibition catalogue and on the Sydney College of the Arts website.

Helen's work is currently showcase and stocklist in seven galleries in Sydney and Melbourne. Helen will keep extend her career and bring her innovative design-artwork to the public.

New Zealand Born EMILY VALENTINE has been exhibiting her unique feathered objects and jewellery since 1999, building on her earlier success as an art jeweller.  She has exhibited widely in both New Zealand and Australia, with a number of prestigious awardsto her name.   

Emily writes: Attitudes to wearing birds parts have changed. Is this just because of fashion, or has society become more caring of animals? I want to confront the viewer with the uncomfortable nature of the feather, to question our callousness treatment of animals and birds, and ask how we sub-consciously classify animals – pet or pest, valued or worthless, beautiful or plain.

Feathers are my paint and the source of the feathers is vital to the work. In 1999 I made Road Kill, a pair of shoes using feathers from a road kill lorikeet and this led to my continuing use of this source when ever I can. I was awarded the World of Wearable Art, WOW Factor Award, with Sulphur Crested Frockatoo in New Zealand in 2014, which attracted the attention of Prince Charles and Camilla and worldwide press in 2016. I have been trapping the registered pest, the Indian Mynah bird, and using the feathers. With these, I made Mynah Collie 2007, a feathered dog which was awarded a merit prize in the Norseweart, the New Zealand Contemporary Art Award. Dead pets are also a source. The death of my own two budgies inspired me to make Budgerigar Brassiere, which won the Mac’s Bizarre Bra award at the WorldofWearableArt in 2002. This led me on to make work about the breast. Two bras were shown in the JOC (Jewellery Out of Context) exhibition which toured internationally. The Lorikeet Brassiere is included in this exhibition along with the original Road Kill lorikeet feathered shoes.