Sam Michelle, Play, Final Curtain, 2023, oil on canvas, 136 x 156 cm.
Sam Michelle, Dahlia Tower, 2023, oil on canvas, 153 x 118cm.
Sam Michelle, Dahlia Dress Ups, 2023, oil on canvas, 146 x 146 cm.
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.
Sam Michelle, Twister Tapestry, 2023, oil on canvas, 156 x 186 cm.
Sam Michelle, Tile 9, Play, 2023, oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm.
Sam Michelle, Tile 13, Play, 2023, oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm.
Sam Michelle, Amazing Grey Poppies & Plums, 2022, oil on canvas, 38 x 65 cm.
Sam Michelle, Tile 8, Play, 2023, oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm.
Play
Sam Michelle
Martin Browne Contemporary
25 May – 17 June 2023
Campbelltown Arts Centre’s in every room presents rich socio-political histories and personal storytelling, with works by Lara Chamas, Jagath Dheerasekara, Kuba Dorabialski, Roberta Joy Rich, Sancintya Mohini Simpson and Curtis Taylor.
In celebration of Artbank’s 45-year anniversary, two major exhibitions and a publication are on display. View, in pictures, Artbank’s Sydney exhibition, Art Text/Text Art.
Alchemist and artist, Natasha Walsh’s new solo show, The Window, embarks on a “new beginning” at N.Smith Gallery in Sydney.
Evie Adasal’s show Light and Space unveils a series of works that look at the intersection of design, light and space at The Garden Gallery in Sydney.
The everchanging nature of what constitutes a home is celebrated and explored in Boundaries: Transcended, now showing at the Bank Art Museum Moree.
The central life-giving gesture of the breath is at the core of Max Athans’ first institutional solo exhibition. Their series of sculptures, collectively titled Breathform, take air into latex ‘lungs’ which create a whistle in the exhale, a deep breathy sound that echoes eerily through the galleries.
