Celebrating the many colours of Australia
To celebrate 40 years of the Hervey Bay Spinners, Weavers and Fibre Artists, a special exhibition Colours of Australia will be staged at the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery in September.
“The exhibition is a celebration of the Fraser Coast fibre arts community and the inspiration and beauty they find in the natural environment,” Cr Jade Wellings said.
An exhibition by eminent Australian artist and photographer Bill Henson will open at the same time.
Colours of Australia showcases a diverse array of skills and techniques feature weaving, spinning, knitting, felting, and stitching using a range of fibres and yarns such as wool, silk, alpaca, cotton, linen, and natural fibres such as lemon grass.
The works are inspired by the dynamic and varied land and seascapes around Australia and weaves together the stories and experiences of locals to provide a fresh perspective on the world around us, Cr Wellings said.
The group, based in the former Nikenbah Schoolhouse, is dedicated to practising, promoting and sharing the skills associated with traditional and contemporary fibre arts.
The works feature depictions of storm clouds over a desert landscape, mossy logs in a temperate rainforest, wildflowers carpeting open plains and mangrove forests lining a tropical estuary.
On Saturday, September 3, members of the group will demonstrate techniques such as knitting, weaving and spinning live in the gallery from 10.30am.
Artist Lidia Godijn and HBRG Assistant Curator Llewellyn Millhouse will also conduct a guided tour of the exhibition.
Touring from the Monash Gallery of Art in Victoria is the exhibition by Bill Henson: the light fades but the gods remain.
It showcases two key series by Bill Henson which explore the suburb of Glen Waverley where he grew up.
To celebrate MGA’s 25th anniversary, Henson was commissioned to revisit the suburb of his childhood and to produce a new body of work that reflects on his earlier series Untitled 1985–86, known by many as ‘the suburban series’.
This ground-breaking commission offers an unparalleled insight into one of Australia’s most revered artists, as he explores the notion of home, intensifying the everyday to a point of dramatic revelation and romantic beauty.
The Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, at 166 Old Maryborough Road, is open from 10am to 2pm and 10am to 2pm on weekends (closed Monday).