This summer, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre is delighted to host two new exhibitions by the region’s leading artists.
Photographer Justin Ealand and embroiderer and sculptor Wendy Powitt have collaborated on an exhibition titled Mary Shelley – A Seditious Heart. The exhibition is a continuation of the concepts the two artists have explored in an earlier collaboration.
This new exhibition will re-create three imaginary rooms from the house of Mary and Percy Shelley that foster radical ideas and communicate the social difficulties of their time. The artists hope to inspire audiences to contemplate today’s society.
Mary and Percy Shelley were writers and poets of the early 19th century, with Mary writing the legendary gothic tale Frankenstein at the age of 18. Mary and Percy lived a radical, passionate and itinerant life in Europe.
This exhibition highlights the difficulty of life when as individuals we are not completely in tune with our community’s belief system of acceptable behaviour.
The source of inspiration for Gabriela Soelkner’s solo exhibition ROCK FACE is much closer to home. Soelkner currently works from her creek studio next to Wollumbin National Park, the source of much of her inspiration.
For this exhibition she has drawn on the giant boulders that surround her home and studio, the hidden rocks found when walking remote areas of the forest, and their shape and textured surface.
“I am most interested in the permanence of stone and the ephemeral nature of our human relationships both past and present,” said Soelkner. “The ability of stone to endure is reassuring as their timescales are beyond our imagining, beyond our limited life cycle.”
“I am delighted to showcase the work of three diverse and talented artists of the region over what is sure to be a busy summer,” said Gallery Director Susi Muddiman OAM. “The work of these three artists are great examples of the immense creativity that is abundant in the Northern Rivers.”
Mary Shelley – A Seditious Heart and ROCK FACE are both on display at Tweed Regional Gallery until 28 February 2021. For more information, visit: www.artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au for details.
Images: 1. Gabriela Soelkner at work in her studio next to Wollumbin National Park – courtesy the artist / 2. Justin Ealand, Spirit, Patience, Gentleness 2020, archival inkjet print on 100% cotton rag, 100 x 80 x 5cm – courtesy the artist