Art Gallery

Western Australia has long been renowned for its wildflowers and the artists in this exhibition use our unique flora as a subject or motif to represent the natural and cultural histories of this place. Whilst the earliest works in the exhibition borrow from the conventions of botanical illustration or Victorian flower painting, contemporary artists extend these traditions to scrutinise the histories of this State or alert us to environmental concerns.

Artists: Florence Hildegarde Bassett, Sujora Conrad, May Creeth, Annie Dorrington, Eva Fernandez, Guy Grey-Smith, Jan Mullen, Melissa Sandy, Sandie Schroder, Holly Story, Percy Trompf, Memnuna Vila-Bogdanich

Pictured: Melissa Sandy, Sturt Pea, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, copyright of the artist

Curated by Christine Gregory, Time to Burn examines current fire management practices, with a focus on aerial prescribed burning in Western Australia’s Great Southern and South West regions. Through artistic and community perspectives, the exhibition explores the environmental, cultural, and ecological consequences of these methods.
Each year, the Western Australian government targets the burning of more than 200,000 hectares of forest and other ecosystems. The routine use of aerial incendiaries during prescribed burns can result in extensive, high-intensity, and difficult-to-control fires. The exhibition aims to provoke informed dialogue and encourage alternative approaches to fire management, highlighting the irreversible damage caused by prevailing practices. Time to Burn asks a vital question: how can we protect both our communities and the natural environment—before time runs out?

Pictured: Tony Windberg, 'Polarity II' 2026 and Peter Hill 'New Day' 2024.

This exhibition is a unique opportunity to peer into a slice of WA art history when artists of Darlington and surrounds became a part of a dynamic creative community and in doing so forged new directions in art making.

The Janet Holmes à Court Collection now holds over four thousand artworks, and, as with all art collections, it began with simply a few. As residents of Darlington, Janet and Robert Holmes à Court acquired three artworks from the 1968 Darlington Arts and Craft exhibition. These artworks inaugurated the Collection and remain an important part of its identity through to today. The Hills, An Artist’ Gathering is an opportunity to see such artworks in the company of other artworks by artists significant to the history of Western Australian art, who lived and work in the hills.

Drift Woods is a solo exhibition by Elmari Steyn featuring a considered selection of recent art works. Steyn’s unique-state etching prints take the viewer into a wandering, many-pathed narrative journey; into exquisitely detailed worlds of wonder, sadness and delight. Drawing on her background in Namibia, Steyn folds personal stories into the familiar subject matter of trees and boats, often pictured in unison. Trees and boats become places of mystery that compel the imagination. They hold memories and emotions. Tree houses and boat houses feature as evocative of the idea of home, as well as holding a sense of child-like wonder and playfulness. Throughout the works there is a frisson between transience and stasis, between putting down roots and taking to the skies or seas. Drift Woods enables you to consider these states of stillness and movement as you enter and drift through entrancing realms of the imagination.

Featured: Elmari Steyn, Story Tree, copyright of the artist.