Exhibition Celebrations: Claire Beausein; Hans Heysen and MJ MacNally; Ruth Johnstone and Lesley Duxbury

Image:
Claire BEAUSEIN
Elixir    2023
wild silk cocoons, graphite and thread on washi paper
92 x 90 cm [image]; 118 x 117 cm [frame]

Image:
Matthew James MacNALLY
Trees   1939
watercolour
25.0 x 35.0 cm [sheet]; 45.0 x 54.4 cm [frame] Donated in memory of Alison L. McInnis, 2018
2018.13
Benalla Art Gallery Collection

Image:
Lesley DUXBURY
Weathering #6   2024
inkjet print on paper
240 x 108 cm

When: Friday 17th May 2024, 6PM
Where: Bennett Gallery
Price: This is a FREE event
Bookings: Numbers are strictly limited. To secure your place, book online HERE, email the gallery on gallery@benalla.vic.gov.au

Join Benalla Art Gallery for the launch of three distinct yet thematically linked exhibitions:

Claire Beausein: Smells Like Rain

Growing up in the Warby Ranges close to nature has left an indelible mark on Claire Beausein’s artistic sensibilities. Smells Like Rain encapsulates the promise of renewal and transformation. The exhibition showcases a recent collection of assemblage and mixed-media works on washi paper, all engaging the theme of metamorphosis.

The artist explains, “Returning to my family farm at Mt. Bruno has brought back to mind early memories and associated emotions. As a child I found wonder in the natural world; creatures like the Bardi moth (rain moth) fascinated me. Referencing these experiences of transformation and renewal I have incorporated wild silk moth cocoons as a medium in my work, assembled with delicate precision, this unique medium evokes the fluidity of water or containment in a vessel.”

Hans Heysen and Matthew James MacNally: Light Shines, Shadow Falls

Drawn from the Benalla Art Gallery Collection, Light Shines, Shadow Falls presents a selection of landscapes by two of Australia’s finest watercolourists, Hans Heysen and Matthew
James MacNally.

The exhibition is a celebration of both artists’ mastery in rendering the Australian countryside, and the atmospheric shifts across the day as the sun rises and sets, shining its light for shadows
to fall.

Ruth Johnstone and Lesley Duxbury: Embrace the Eucalypt

The ubiquitous eucalypt has come to mean many things to us. It is honoured when it survives to a great age, yet its size and materiality has caused it to be felled for human needs, and of course it is renowned for fuelling raging bushfires. Utilising paper based media and contemporary art approaches, Ruth Johnstone and Lesley Duxbury address the cultural significance of the eucalypt.

Lesley Duxbury records long-term eucalypt survivors in inhabited environments. Photographic documentation of specimens, species identification along with end-grain imprints, circumference and age are incorporated into her artworks. Ruth Johnstone explores the scars of bushfire and eucalypt survivors, commemorated by leafy garlands and circular motifs. A recent series of white works mummify eucalypt stems in tracing paper to further explore loss and consolation.