
Ethical imaginaries
At the City of Coffs Harbour’s Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM), science meets speculation in the liminal space between nature and the human world.
In Sam Michelle’s exhibition Play at Martin Browne Contemporary, oil paintings of flora, textiles and vessels become metaphors for childhood creativity—a spirit that adulthood often risks losing.
In delicately detailed works that reference home-grown flowers and collected vessels and textiles, Michelle’s paintings exist in a tradition of persuading viewers to find joy and pleasure in the foundations of life: home, domestic tasks, work, and friendship.
The artist explains, “As an example. You may see that portions of fabric are used to represent a snake, and stripes on another fabric are used to represent the rungs of a ladder. Another playful example is vessels and flora constructed to resemble a jenga tower. These paintings are fun compositions of games which when played as an adult, bring out our inner child.”
View, in pictures, Michelle’s call to creativity and play.
Play
Sam Michelle
Martin Browne Contemporary
25 May – 17 June 2023