Rocky Art Gallery celebrating House & Home
Two very different exhibitions at the Rockhampton Art Gallery are celebrating house, home, and all it means to us: Erin Dunne’s House, and Woorabinda community project Your Home, My Home overseen by Nickeema Williams.
Your Home, My Home is a collaboration between artists and community members living in Woorabinda, led by artist Nickeema Williams. A series of installations wind through the gallery, telling stories of home and what that means to the community of Woorabinda.
Nickeema says artists of all ages contributed to the project, including children and youth.
“I chose to work with young people on this project,” Ms Williams said.
“To empower little people to share their voice and stories. To know that they can stand up and have an audience to what they have to say, create and influence change in their own lives.
“This exhibition had artists as young as six, up to adults.”
House by Erin Dunne is based around the artist’s drawing practice. Her works look at the way in which memories form the layers of who we are, with people, places and objects connecting us with those memories. By depicting places and things that evoke cherished recollections, Erin’s maps her own family and personal history and shows how memory is a fundamental part of her sense of identity.
Erin grew up on a cattle property in Central Queensland, and returned to Central Queensland after receiving her Bachelor or of Fine Art followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Education in 2015. Since then she has created bodies of work that focus on her connection to places of significance to her as well as the people associated with those places.
Erin said she is thrilled to be having a solo exhibition of her work at Rockhampton Art Gallery.
“I have enjoyed the creative challenge of pushing my drawing practice beyond traditional media and into a more immersive and audience-centred approach, and hope that viewers find themselves experiencing a sense of wonder, curiosity and enjoyment at seeing familiar things presented in an unfamiliar way when they visit House.
“It is a really exciting time to be an artist practising in Rockhampton while the gallery transitions from its current space to its future space. The current Rockhampton Art Gallery Director and staff have gone out of their way to bring local artists, including myself, into the gallery and assist us in growing the professionalism of our artistic practices. Having a solo exhibition of this size and scope is a fundamental step in my journey from transitioning between the stages of emerging professional artist to established professional artist, and I anticipate that this exhibition will open new doors and opportunities for me in future,” Erin said.
Both exhibitions run until April 21 at Rockhampton Art Gallery.
