Art Exhibition ‘Looking’ by Tess Horwitz and Barbara McConchie runs Friday 13 to Sunday 22 May 2022 at the Narooma Gallery, Narooma, NSW Australia.
Looking is a collection of small works that reflect on the natural world. These drawings, collages, watercolours and paintings invite different ways of looking and imagining. Detailed studies of remnant objects, such as shells, bones, and seed pods, are juxtaposed with wider landscapes, exploring the intricacy, wonder and vulnerability of nature.
Tess describes her work as recording ‘tiny worlds of wonderment’. She notes that
“Seeds, shells and bones are superb designs. They are tools for procreation, protection and structural integrity. Looking and recording these bits of nature has resulted in a suite of intimate artworks, like the objects themselves. They could be viewed as celebrations of intricacy, also as relics of a dying world.”
Barbara’s work evolved through looking at her late mother’s landscape photos. She says: “Initially I was drawn to remembering her through the act of making small paintings from these images. Then daily early morning walks looking out across mountain ranges or horizon lines became new source material. Each work is not a true reflection of a view, but an amalgam of looking and imagining, with a growing cognisance of the unstable state of our world.”
Based in Canberra since 1990, Tess Horwitz is an artist and art educator with a Master of Arts in Sculpture from the ANU School of Art. She has exhibited installation works, coordinated large-scale community art projects and received commissions for public artworks, including the ACT Bushfire Memorial and the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre. Her work is held in a number of public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia.
Born in Canberra, Barbara McConchie permanently relocated to Kianga in 2020. She studied at the ANU School of Art, then worked as an edition printer with Studio One Print Workshop. Barbara has an extensive career in arts management as Director of Craft ACT: Craft & Design Centre and the School Manager at the ANU School of Art & Design. She has exhibited regularly since 1992.
‘Looking’ Tess Horwitz & Barbara McConchie
Where: Narooma Gallery, 92 Campbell St, Narooma, NSW Australia
Dates: Friday 13 May to Sunday 22 May 2022
Open: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm each day – closed Monday 16 May
Artists talk: 2:00 pm, Saturday 21 May
