Beauty and drama co-exist in exhibitions Mandy Gunn and Karen Chugg opening at ArtSpace next week.
Painting by Mandy Gunn Desert-ed
An exhibition by award-winning artist Mandy Gunn
Mandy Gunn has driven and camped through many of the vast tracts of desert that comprise 20 per cent of the Australian landscape: the Simpson, The Gibson and most recently the Great and Little Sandy Deserts.
A spectacular area of dunes, rocky escarpments and salt lakes, through which runs the 1800km of the Canning Stock Route, it is sadly now unoccupied due to the enclosure of the 50-plus natural wells once known and relied on by the traditional owners. Surveyor Alfred Canning forced his Aboriginal guides to disclose their locations and made them inaccessible to them.
An exhibition by award-winning artist Mandy Gunn
Mandy Gunn has driven and camped through many of the vast tracts of desert that comprise 20 per cent of the Australian landscape: the Simpson, The Gibson and most recently the Great and Little Sandy Deserts.
A spectacular area of dunes, rocky escarpments and salt lakes, through which runs the 1800km of the Canning Stock Route, it is sadly now unoccupied due to the enclosure of the 50-plus natural wells once known and relied on by the traditional owners. Surveyor Alfred Canning forced his Aboriginal guides to disclose their locations and made them inaccessible to them.
Throughout this visit and others, Mandy sits in her car and records what goes past in her sketchbook. She also collects sand and pieces of slate that she will later add into her studio paintings.
Gunn has created a series of major studio artworks which create the feel of the land – the roughness, the vastness, the colour and the isolation of these landscapes that are now literally Desert-ed.
Gunn has created a series of major studio artworks which create the feel of the land – the roughness, the vastness, the colour and the isolation of these landscapes that are now literally Desert-ed.
Painting by Karen Chugg Bunurong Lands. The Beauty Around Us
An exhibition by emerging artist award winner Karen Chugg
Karen Chugg has lived in Inverloch since 2008, having previously lived for two years in the unique environment of Darwin, with its celebration of Aboriginal language, culture, presence and influence.
A regular walker on the beaches and surrounds, she is constantly aware of the people, the families and the children who have walked these tracks over thousands of years and descendants who continue to do so today.
This exhibition seeks to illuminate the beauty inherent in the immediate landscape of Bass Coast/South Gippsland – a fragment of the vast lands of the Koolin Nation.
Karen has attempted to capture and convey some of the beauty of a small strip of the land of the Bunurong clans and, in doing so, honour the traditional owners.
An exhibition by emerging artist award winner Karen Chugg
Karen Chugg has lived in Inverloch since 2008, having previously lived for two years in the unique environment of Darwin, with its celebration of Aboriginal language, culture, presence and influence.
A regular walker on the beaches and surrounds, she is constantly aware of the people, the families and the children who have walked these tracks over thousands of years and descendants who continue to do so today.
This exhibition seeks to illuminate the beauty inherent in the immediate landscape of Bass Coast/South Gippsland – a fragment of the vast lands of the Koolin Nation.
Karen has attempted to capture and convey some of the beauty of a small strip of the land of the Bunurong clans and, in doing so, honour the traditional owners.