EVERYDAY SEENS

Photography by an akin but distinct group observing their day-to-day surroundings that form an exhibition of diverse contemporary image makers.

Curated by Andrew Forrer and Brett Piva

Feature Artists:
Will Vallender 
Jérôme Treize  
Andrew Sullivan
James Rhodes
Edwina Richards 
Ella Paterson 
Robert McCann 
Caitlin Jackson 
Nikola Jokanovic 
Max Mason–Hubers 
Penelope Green
Andrew Forrer
Brendan Frost
Sam Frost 
Simone De Peak
Mark Alston

EVERYDAY SEENS

Opening Reception
6-9pm Saturday 19 October

Open 19 October—1 November
Online until 8 November.

WEEKENDS: Open 12-5pm.
WEEKDAYS: By appointment only.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

DESCENDANTS

A visual exchange within diverse contemporary works that explore interdisciplinary practices through an emerging artist group exhibition.

The first Emerging Artist Spring Annual for Onwards Gallery featuring exxlence in Painting, Ceramics, Sculpture, traditional weaving, photography, experimental music and more.

MAX BLANCH - Newcastle
MEGAN FARQUHAR - Newcastle
MAIA JELAVIC - Sydney 
MAHALIA LECKNER - Newcastle
ELLA PATERSON - Newcastle
SYBILLA ROBERTSON - Sydney 
KYAH STEWART - Newcastle
RAINA THOMSON - Newcastle
Music: DARK PATTERN - Newcastle

DESCENDANTS is an Onwards Gallery spring annual exhibition in support of emerging artists and performers in Newcastle and further afield. We are excited to share the first of many.

DESCENDANTS
Onwards Gallery Spring Annual

Opening Reception
6-9pm Friday 6 September

Open 6–15 September.
Online until 20 September.

WEEKENDS: Open 12-5pm.
WEEKDAYS: By appointment only.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

CAITLIN JACKSON

SCENES FROM NOWHERE

In this new body of work, “Scenes from Nowhere,” Caitlin presents a series of street vignettes that explore memory and nostalgia through the textures of a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood.

Having spent her formative childhood years in this community, Caitlin formed connections with locals and explored the streets and neighbours’ backyards as her playground. She draws upon these memories to convey a sense of personal nostalgia for Sydney’s Inner West suburbia while examining the delicate balance between presence and absence, illuminating the stories embedded within the environment.

Through these images, Caitlin aims to foster a deeper connection to the scenes that shape our collective experience, revealing the beauty in the often-overlooked details that define a community.  

Opening Reception
6-9pm Saturday 3 August

Open 3–16 August.
Online until 23 August.

SCENES FROM NOWHERE
Opening Reception
6-9pm Saturday 3rd August

WEEKENDS: Open 12-5pm.
WEEKDAYS: By appointment only.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

NGURRA
WATHA

NAIDOC WEEK 2024 Exhibition
Curated by Jeremy Coward and Gavin Kelly

Ngurra Watha means Camp Fire from the Gathang language. This exhibition represents coming together from all different places and sharing knowledge and story to celebrate our similarities and love for country through a mixture of ancient and modern techniques.

We invite you to come sit around our Ngurra Watha to learn, share, and appreciate the stories of our countries.  

Opening Reception
6-9pm Friday 5 July

Open 5–19 July.
Online until 26 July.

CURATORS

Opening Reception
6-9pm Friday 5 July

Open 5–19 July.
Online until 26 July.

WEEKENDS: Open 12-5pm.
WEEKDAYS: By appointment only.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

SHANNON
SIMM

THE FEELING OF / NO OTHER

My time spent in Japan was a time spent in complete awe. Not only by the landscapes that encapsulate the country, but by the spirit, the consideration in every action, the attention to detail, the equal respect for people & place. This was utterly prevalent through every aspect of life, especially within the land. The care taken & respect given to the land that provided was like no other.

I spent my time driving around the country & immersing myself in the varsity of landscapes. This exhibition is a commemoration of the land & how intrinsic the connection is between people & place. Words are not my forte, & its been incredibly difficult to find words in the English language to describe Japan in all its wonders.

Untranslatable in English; Komorebi - a Japanese word meaning the interplay of sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees. A word describing the beauty of nature’s play on light & shadow, ‘komorebi’ captures something much more than its literal meaning. The interconnected meaning of this word goes beyond the visual interplay of light and dark, but reflects our relationship to ourselves, our mental health & our connection to nature. It reminds us of the impermanence’s in life, & allows us to cherish something deeper than language, & the beauty of our environment as we see it.

‘The feeling of/no other’ aims to capture the essence of Japan & the more integral connection we have to place. 

Opening Reception
6-9pm Friday 14 June

Open 14–28 June.
Online until 5 July.

Opening Reception
6-9pm Friday 14 June

Open 14–28 June.
Online until 5 July.

WEEKENDS: Open 12-5pm.
WEEKDAYS: By appointment only.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

HIGHER GROUND

LUKE DAY
MELISSA GRISANCICH
HOLLY LEONARDSON
MELANIE MUDDLE
JAMES RHODES
HANNAH ROBINSON

A transference of visual knowledge exchanged through a group exhibition that explores contemporary works from artists traversing into and out of new directions. 

Opening Reception 6-9pm Friday 24 May

Open 24 May–7 June. Online until 14 June.
Open 12-5pm weekends.

By appointment only on weekdays. 

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

OUT FOR SUMMER!

The Largest Little Show in Newcastle

Opens 6pm Friday 1st December

Details on all exhibiting artists to come soon. This will be a big one!!!

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 1ST DECEMBER 2023
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

Keen to get involved? Apply now and share your work with us.

This is Fine!

by Jade Lomax

Opens 6pm Friday 24 November

Through flames and ash, Australia's summer uniquely sits somewhere at the intersection of catastrophic natural disaster and regenerative cleansing. This collection of works is a testament to the enduring spirit of a land that has witnessed the ebb and flow of fires throughout its history. A place where the harsh climate, the dry bush, and the relentless heat have converged to create a dynamic and challenging ecosystem.

Some native Australian flora thrives in the face of wildfire. Eucalyptus and banksia pods have serotinous cones or fruits that are completely sealed with resin. These cones/fruits can only open to release their seeds after the heat of a fire has physically melted the resin. Other species require the chemical signals from smoke and charred plant matter to break seed dormancy. Some of these plants will only sprout in the presence of such chemicals and can remain buried in the soil seed bank for decades until a wildfire awakens them.

I started this series in 2019 when the catastrophic fires that year ravaged the areas I grew up in. Some friends lost absolutely everything in those fires. Using ultraviolet light produced by the sun, my original sketches and native australian flora I created the original pieces with the Van Dyke Brown printing process. The colours produced by this process mimic those of a scorched landscape leaving only traces and memories of the flora and fauna that lived there. The obscured images reflect this memory and only parts of these works have been fixed therefore these works will change slightly over time. Just as our memories and the bush will.

We have since faced an unprecedented few years of rain, a global pandemic and concerning climate predictions. This year is expected to be blistering, having had the hottest start to Spring on record. These predictions have propelled me to revisit these works, just as the fires revisit our bushland. I have layered new images over the original pieces obscuring the even further the original images.As scars remain, the bush moves forward, adapting and transforming, gradually blurring the memories of the fires. This impermanence is a reminder of the profound resilience inherent in both nature and the human spirit. The devastating impacts of these fires on the bush are propelled to new levels by global warming and climate change.

The title This is Fine refers to a meme where there is a cartoon dog sitting at a table with a cup of tea. It is surrounded by flames burning the entire room around it. The speech bubble above the dog read “this is fine”. 

The current situation in Australia feels emblematic of this meme.

Artist Bio

Jade is a professional tattoo artist and emerging fine artist living and creating on Awabakal Country (Newcastle, Australia.) Jade has over 10 years experience creating high quality and colourful tattoos. Over this time she has developed her style which focuses on flora and fauna, in particular, whimsical Australian native flora and fauna. Australia’s unique muted landscape colours inform Jade’s work.

Through her art, Jade explores the inner workings of the subconscious mind, using a ritualistic and mindful approach. She is inspired by the phenomenological and sensory experience within ordinary acts of our daily lives, whether it be dreams, drinking tea, or other subtle happenings and strives to convey these personal experiences through her art.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 24 November 2023
Continues Sat-Sun 11am-4pm.

ANYWHERE
BUT HERE

by Donna Jorna

Opens 6pm Friday 03 November

Anywhere but Here’ aims to explore ideas of longing, belonging and the subconscious. 

Through the meditative process of mark making, engaged with a state of mind, psychological landscapes or ‘portals’ are created. 

Through this process shapes lend themselves to landscape forms using sources from imagination and memory. An attempt is made to create a tension between reality, memory, the imagination, and suggest an unspoken narrative of a psychological journey to a place anywhere but here.

Artist Bio

Donna Jorna is a multidisciplinary artist working in the areas of painting and printmaking.  

Her paintings and monotypes are spontaneous and expressive. She is interested in the human condition and psyche, memory, dreams and myth.

Donna’s current interests explore the landscape as metaphor, which are an expression of an inner psychological life using a visual language.

Her process involves laying of oil paint or oil based ink in a repetitive, meditative manner with no intent of outcome. These marks are then removed by sanding, scratching or wiping away then reworking and repeating the process until the marks or shapes of colour appear to lend themselves to a landscape. These landscapes may be memories of physical places, or come from the subconscious. As each work is evolves a loose narrative also emerges. The viewer is invited to read the works as they wish with the hope they view, contemplate, then reflect on their own personal understanding of the work thus enabling a subconscious connection with the artist.

Donna has a Fine Art degree completed in 2018 and completed TAFE qualifications in art and design in 1984.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 03 November 2023
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

FORGOTTEN
FRAGMENTS

by Aksara Harriram

Opens 6pm Friday 20 October

As a visual interpreter of captivating imaginative spaces, Aksara finds herself inexorably drawn to the raw power and transformative beauty of the inner geological landscapes. These landscapes are shaped by time and elemental forces demonstrating the interplay between man’s sense of memory and natural state of the world. She offers up a colourful palette filled with striking resemblances to childhood wonderment.  

People usually halt when something poses a striking likeness to the reflection of self. This kind of work doesn’t paint one picture. It speaks to every individual as if writing their stories. There are many narratives written before our eyes, it may be personal, it may be something that moves us, it may be something that persuades us into a different way of thinking. It is inherently a conversation between the viewer and the work itself. It is enticing to those that choose to open their minds to the exploration of self.

Less is more doesn’t exist in my world. I choose to overdo; more is more and that is okay. 

Artist Bio

Aksara is a multi-disciplinary artist based on Awabakal land who focuses on creating worlds from deep within the mind’s perception of a vibrant world. By vicariously experiencing her interpretation of the world, the viewer has a full-bodied experience. Drawing deep from within her cultural background she aims to portray her connection to her heritage by expressing it with traditional art ideologies and bringing forth a new contemporary spin on a very personal journey. Emigrating from place to place has left her lost and wanting but only in the regard of finding and understanding this idea of a sense of place, either by finding one to fit into or creating a new one. The vibrancy in her work exposes aspects of a world all blended into one where the void isn’t dark but filled with colour and anticipation. 

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 20 October 2023
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

FUTURE SOFT

by Sandy Sanderson

Opens 6pm Friday 6 October

Threads Meld, A gentle evolution is perpetually rippling through the fabric of cosmic code and futuristic dreams. 

‘Future Soft’ is a space to navigate the interplay where emotions intertwine withe evolving landscapes of technological and biological futures. The exhibition serves as a portal to envision compassionate and intriguing futures. 

Through Texture and hyper-colour, speculative future realities are expressed with experimental soft sculpture, screen printing and new technologies. They reflect a yearning for growth and a search for balance on earth. 

As time passes, earthbound networks of technology, DNA, and interconnection grow increasingly complex. ‘Future Soft’ is a space that reflects and nurtures awe in the world around us and points towards empathy. 

‘Future Soft’ blends the realms of AI, genetic transformations, and emotion. The potential futures that emerge from the convergence of these themes invites viewers to contemplate the plasticity of growth and encourages dialogue on the ethical, environmental, and social implications they raise. 

We are guardians of growth. Allow the fantasy. 

Sandy Sanderson is an experimental, soft sculpture artist who incorporates screen printing and new technologies into her practice. 

Sandy is an artist with a dynamic disability, she uses techniques and materials that are moulded to her capacity. Her works have a focus on texture and sensory qualities and lean into a sci-fi aesthetic. 

Sandy has a background in fashion, running a fashion label called ‘Lurline Avangeline’. This, as well as her love for face culture has informed her art making practice. 

Sandy’s work aims to reflect awe and intrigue about reality. Her practice gives reverence to this world through authentic acts of empathy-driven creativity. Through her mostly research-bases art practice, Sandy aims to help people find the humour and fun in life, while still being able to sit with the dichotomy of exploring darker realities of life.

Sandy studied at Phoenix institute of transpersonal therapies and is currently completing a bachelor at Newcastle Art School. 

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 06 October 2023
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

Le Nouveau Château:

Photographs of Muloobinba/Newcastle 2003-2023 by Andrew Forrer

Opens 6pm Friday 29 September

Andrew Forrer is a British/Australian photographer who after a series of serendipitous moments, of the kind that punctuate our lives, arrived in Muloobinba/Newcastle twenty years ago.

Traversing the city and surrounds using a guerrilla documentary approach to his work, Andrew has examined the city's environment and character. Would it conform to the widely held stereotype; an industrial, rough around the edges city whose residents either never leave or can't wait to disappear south to Sydney and beyond?

Down on its luck since suffering the twin blows of a powerful earthquake and later the BHP steelworks closure, the city (as cities do) has sought to evolve, redevelop and rebrand its reputation despite the ever-present spectre of towering stockpiles of jet-black coal, arriving on snaking coal trains and leaving aboard the hulking tankers that line the banks of the Hunter River.

Andrew has extensively documented the grittier side of the Greater Newcastle/Hunter region between 2003 and 2023; Le Nouveau Château is the result of recording his observations with a camera.

Artist Bio

Andrew Forrer makes documentary photographs of the world as he experiences it. Largely devoid of people, the images focus on the marks and traces left by humans that litter the landscape; sometimes ephemeral, often more permanent. These suggest an echo of past events and interactions. Tinged with darkness, melancholy and humour his photographs often focus on the overlooked fabric of our world that many pass by without a second glance. 

Born and raised in London; for much of the last two decades he has found himself in Australia living on Awabakal Country. Initially studying Geography at the University of Manchester, he later completed a Master of Documentary Photography at Sydney College of the Arts (SCA).

He is a resident at Onwards Studios in Muloobinba/Newcastle where he continues to make photos documenting his surroundings.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 29 September 2023
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

CONFLUENCE

by Chris Brown and Alpha Sierra

Opens 6pm Friday 15 September

Confluence is an exhibition that explores the intersection of chance and coincidence; specifically that residing between the physical and temporal spaces. Photographers Chris Brown and Alyssa Salamon investigate the complex and unpredictable result when two separate perspectives collide. Drawing inspiration from the dynamic expression of human experience and the natural world, Confluence examines the beauty that emerges when specific space, time and phenomena meet. Driven by experimentation, the exhibition features a series of photographs that explore a contrast between togetherness and isolation, considering the moments of serendipity and synchronicity that shape our lives. Brown and Salamon's works challenge us to see the world in a new light and consider the power of chance in shaping our perceptions.

Chris Brown Artist Bio

Chris Brown is a multidisciplinary artist and photographer based in Mulubinba, Awabakal Country, Newcastle NSW. Brown’s practice draws from the power and complexity of the ecosphere and how this intersects with raw emotional states of being. Utilising digital and traditional film photography techniques, his work encompasses landscape, still life, abstraction and deconstructed portraiture, supported by visceral creating writing to invoke the subject’s inner voice. Showcased throughout 10 solo and 14 group exhibitions, Chris has also completed a residency programme with The Lock-Up Gallery, NSW.

Alpha Sierra Artist Bio

Lake Macquarie/Awabakal based artist, Alyssa Salamon, developed her creative identity under the pseudonym "Alpha Sierra" - a response to the reluctance of referring to herself as an artist; the name derived from her initials in the phonetic alphabet.

With a strong belief that art allows for creative freedom, she's developed a range of self-taught, multidisciplinary skills - perhaps a positive reaction to a negative agitation with stagnation.

Her work explores the ways we communicate without language, comparing commonalities between differing cultures and environments. With a consistent mood and melancholy, she explores similarities of the civil landscape, using her practice to transcend these boundaries. 

With few works exhibited in group shows, 'Confluence' is her first completed body of work.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 15 September 2023
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

KINGDOM OF CATS 

Presented by FLT Tattoo Studio

Opens 6pm Friday 18 August

Kingdom of Cats is a group exhibition, presented by FLT Tattoo Studio, showcasing the fine art practice of 25 renowned, contemporary Australian tattoo artists.

Panthers, and big cat imagery, are a common motif throughout modern tattoo history, such as the iconic crawling panther. You’ll often see a ceramic big cat when you visit a studio, especially at FLT Tattoo Studio, where the big cats outnumber the artists. This classic iconography will provide continuity through the exhibition, whilst highlighting each artist’s unique style. In the Kingdom of Cats, the artists have decorated vintage inspired, ceramic wild cats which will be accompanied by other works in varying mediums to celebrate the iconic status of the big cat in tattooing and the communities we build through that shared imagery.

There is a long tradition of tattooers bridging the gap between the craft of tattooing and fine art, producing exciting work that challenges conventions and has a broad appeal. Tattoos require precise techniques and innovative design to create work that will last the wearer’s lifetime and complement an ever-changing body. These skills are rooted in a mastery of design elements and principles, and an understanding of how people use tattoos and art to communicate their identity. This exhibition celebrates the unique perspective of artists who tattoo.

Kingdom of Cats presents a multidisciplinary contemporary exhibition, whilst aligning with Onwards Gallery’s vision, which provides a platform for a diverse range of self-representing artists. This exhibition challenges the perception of tattooing and crafts, showcasing the artist’s skill and versatility, and encourages the audience to enjoy viewing our art, as much as we love making it (and also love cats as much as we do).

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 18 August 2023
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

WAKALDA 

Curated by Jeremy Coward and Gavin Kelly for 2023 NAIDOC Week.

Onwards Gallery welcomes back Gomeroi man Jeremy Coward and Worimi man Gavin Kelly to curate an insightful group exhibition for NAIDOC week 2023.

WAKALDA will share the importance of story, relationship, responsibility and obligations to country through various paintings, drawings, weaving and traditional Aboriginal tools and instruments by a selection of diverse indigenous artists.

Exhibition Opening:
6-9pm Saturday 01 July.

Exhibition Preview:
11am-4pm as part of Newcastle Art Galleries IGN Art Fair

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opening 6-9pm. 01 July 2023
Continues Sun-Thurs 11am-4pm

IGN Art Fair 2023 

Studio Tours and NAIDOC Week Exhibition Preview.

Proudly presented by Independent Galleries Newcastle the IGN Art Fair returns to Newcastle this year for its third iteration!  Join Onwards Gallery for Studio Tours from Saturday 01 July - Sunday 2 July along with with a preview of WAKALDA Naidoc Week 2023 exhibition.  

Held across 20 independent galleries located in and around the Newcastle CBD area, IGN Art Fair will feature the very best commercial art spaces and artist-run initiatives from across the Newcastle region including The Lock-Up, Blackstone Gallery, Straitjacket Art Space, Onwards Gallery, Timeless Textiles, LEDA Gallery and many more.

NAIDOC WEEK
Exhibition Preview:
Saturday 11am-4pm

Studio Tours:
Saturday and Sunday.
11am-4pm. Commencing at the beginning of every hour.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

BALACLAVA 

by Nick Barlow

The aim for this ongoing body of work has been to try and understand and portray the uncanniness of the balaclava. As an object that traditionally functions to protect and comfort from the harsh elements of weather, the balaclava often becomes subverted in meaning and function in contemporary society. This subversion is often witnessed in multiple instances where anonymity is key; protests, civil unrest and in the more commonly associated bank robber. The result of such instances turns the balaclava from something soft, protective and comforting in to something of its opposite that bears threat and danger. 

Artist Bio

Nick barlow is an emerging artist based in Mulubinba (Newcastle) Australia. Working mainly as a painter, Barlow aims to examine the the ways in which we as humans navigate the everyday, from moments of intimacy to the mundane and strange moments that go unquestioned. 

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 16 June 2023
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

Contemporary Antiquities
Melody Suranyi

Opens 6pm Saturday 03 June

Ancient and modern themes merge in Melody’s exhibition ‘Contemporary Antiquities’ to create a celebration of old and new. Through acrylic paintings and gilded lino prints, Melody brings new life to ancient vessels through bold colours and intricate patterns. The shape of the vessels you see throughout all the works have been inspired from ancient Egyptian, Roman and Greek antiquities and have been embellished with modern colours and patterns. Textured elements throughout the works pay homage to ancient Frescos and gold in the lino prints have been inspired by ancient Egyptian art. 

Artist Bio
Melody Suranyi is an artist and art teacher based in Newcastle with a love for combining bold and bright colours with ancient themes. She splits her time between teaching kids and adult art classes, painting in her studio and creating murals around the city. She is passionate about teaching and encouraging creativity in others through art classes and loves seeing people enjoy creating. 

After graduating university as a graphic designer, Melody decided to take her art practice full time and joined Onwards studio as a resident artist at the end of 2022. Whilst she has been creating art for as long as she can remember, her style developed and became what it is today from when she moved to Newcastle from the Central Coast 4 years ago. Taking inspiration from ancient art history, Melody’s art combines vessels from antiquity with modern patterns and bright colours in both lino prints and acrylic paintings. Other inspirations come from colourful fabric design, organic shapes from nature and bright colour palettes from her time studying graphic design.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 03 June 2023.
Continues Saturday-Friday 11am-4pm.

Be Home Before the Street Lights Come On
by Peta Lumley. 

Opens 6pm Friday 21 April.

A homage to the liminal, non linear nature of our memories and the shapes and patterns that take us back to them. These works of the ordinary suburban sameness that spans across each place- the place we live now or where we lived then, frame the collective nostalgia that transcends time, swings circles around us and invites into the past upon a glance at dripping garden tap, or a paint-flaked fence that looks just like the one we sat on as kids. The squeak of the gate as the a neighbour pops over to say hi, sometimes welcome, sometimes not. The imprint of the ordinary everyday items and scenes is deep. Despite their inanimate positions in the background, they have great meaning and bolster our whole experience of being ‘here’.

An accompanying original musical score by Dvoynik has been created in response to the work and themes in the show. Dvoynik is the moniker for Michael Romeo, a musician who uses his guitar to weave intricate ambient compositions. With cavernous reverb and a deep understanding of space, Dvoynik creates a sonic landscape that is both intimate and expansive. His music explores themes of heartbreak, taking listeners on a journey through the depths of human emotion.

Peta Lumley is a local emerging photographic artist. Her work leans into the intimacies of everyday family life, framing the beauty in the mundane or in-between moments. Her work treasures the ordinary objects, rituals and dwellings in our lives and the meaning they have, as relics of connection, to our memories and experiences and to one another.

Lumley was a finalist in the 2021 Olive Cotton Award and a semi-finalist in the 2020 HeadOn Photo festival Awards.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 21 April 2023.
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

TENDER
by Shannon Simm. 

Opens 6pm Friday 31 March.

Tender is a dedication to those whom I love, and an admiration and showcasing of the skills, creativities, stories & passions that they hold within the palms of their hands. A capturing of what has joined & brought us together as one, for as brief or as long a moment as any. 

This collection ranges from the delicateness of an evening drinking tea and picking fruit from home gardens, to diving & spear fishing for what we will eat, to self exploration on a late night. 

The tender care and slowness of an action that has an otherwise masculine, or perceived brutality, holds an extensive array of femininity and beauty.

Our hands hold an immense power to create nourishment for not only our bodies, but our souls, minds, and one another. The creases of our skin & the elements collected within our pores from our everyday tells a narrative so different from our known ways of communicating. It reflects the gentle energy & unconscious consideration that is met with any task, and thus that of the doer.

Artist Bio

Shannon Simm is a Mulubinba/Newcastle origin artist who has spent the last few years fluidly living & travelling around Australia in her bus home & studio. Shannon has a distinctive theme of intimate & sensual imagery, within her discipline of realism oil painting & the dreamlike technique of multi-exposure. Shannon explores the romanticism of the every day, capturing moments of stillness & those around her in which she finds herself growing a strong sense of appreciation & gratitude for. Each piece acts a visual documentation of the growing connections she makes with people & places, & the newfound parts of herself that each narrative has influentially helped develop.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

Opens 6-9pm. 31 March 2023.
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

NGURRAMPAA
by Jeremy Coward and Gavin Kelly. 

Opens 6pm Friday 17 March.

Ngurrampaa - Meaning my “camp world” from the Ngemba language describes the relationship between me and everything inside my world. It explains the responsibility and obligations to my world, my country. This exhibition shows the importance of story, relationship, responsibility and obligations to country through painting and traditional tool making.

Artist Bio

Jeremy Coward is a Gomeroi man from the Upper Hunter Valley NSW. He has responsibilities and obligations to Ngemba country in North Western NSW.

Jeremy gains inspiration from the colours of country and traditional story. Mainly using paints and carvings on traditional Aboriginal tools crafted by him to show the importance of caring for country and what it provides us all everyday.

Gavin Kelly is a Worimi man from the Maiangal clan. Gavin lives on Worimi country in Stockton NSW and the area has a strong influence on what he paints.

Gavin has been doing art for over 20 years and is self taught. During that time Gavin has illustrated several books and painted the first place prizes for men’s and women’s indigenous Surfest.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place Hamilton

6-9pm. 17 March 2023.
Continues Sat-Thurs 11am-4pm.

The Space Between by Xavier Lane

This exhibition explores the ephemeral nature of moments spent with people, objects, and on land and how they are cast in memories. The works examine the way time distorts recollections and the ways they can change to become greater or harsher than they were.

Xavier Lane

9 December 6-9pm
10 - 15 December 11am-4pm

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place, Hamilton

SUPER WILD BEACH PARTY
Holly Leonardson

Artist Statement

Residing close to Newcastle's coastline for the past three years and living in the sunny Noosa Hinterland another three years prior, the beach hasn’t strayed far from Holly Leonardson's thoughts. Both wild, natural environment and site of lifestyle and culture, the coastline and its associated motifs are represented repeatedly across fine arts and handicrafts. A desire to gain a sense of belonging within this landscape has resulted in the ongoing creation of her own marine-focused works; an exercise in adding to a widely shared appreciation of the sea by way of the handmade.

Collecting, reflecting on and making use of shell necklaces and tourist tchotchkes, beach towels, sand, driftwood and other beachcombing finds, with the addition of paint and photographs clipped from discarded reference books, has resulted in a series of collage-based works on wood panel and small driftwood sculptures. Worn treasures found scattered along the shoreline have been collected and fashioned together by hand using simple materials such as nails and knotted cord to produce decorative hanging objects.

Beach towel-inspired stripes painted over layers of sand and photographic imagery are the main signifiers of a human presence within this body of work, which has been balanced with images of the landscape and wildlife seen from the skies, the water's edge or the oceans depths. Holly’s work in Super Wild Beach Party combines the serenity of a deserted beach on an overcast day and the vibrancy of colours revealed by a cloudless sky and burning sun on a popular stretch of sand. 

Artist Bio

Holly Leonardson is a visual artist currently residing in Newcastle, and has been working with collage-based concepts for over ten years. Her practice spans both handmade and digital collages, often extending to craft-based jewellery, textiles and small sculptural objects that maintain a focus on the assemblage of found imagery and materials. Holly’s work is guided by a playful, material-led process and an enthusiasm for frequent studio experimentation. She considers the collage and assemblage process as being fundamental to her way of working and thinking.

The main themes in Holly’s work reflect her interest in handcrafted objects and the making process, collections and collecting, surface and body adornment, domestic spaces and the natural environment. Drawn to the uninhibited nature of childlike mark-making and the balance of immediate and labour intense methods of creation, Holly’s work has often been described by others as joyous, meticulous, detailed and colourful.

Holly graduated from the University of Tasmania in 2015 with a Bachelor of Contemporary Art and has lived in four different states along the Australian east coast, seeking inspiration from bush walks and found objects. She currently works from a studio at Onwards Gallery crammed with beautiful old books.

Onwards Gallery
18 November 2022
6-9pm Opening Night
11am-4pm Thursday - Saturday
6 Torpey Place, Hamilton

MINDSTATE
Marguerite Tierney

I've always been an obsessive drawer for as long as I can remember. At some point this was diagnosed as ADHD. Now I'm an adult I think that's a fair call but I also think this kind of engagement is a state of mind.

'This' and my art practice coupled with currently working as an Early Years Art Educator has informed this current body of work. Mindstate is heavily influenced by what I hear and visualise in children's words, the way they pantomine the world, what they imagine, see and create in their dreams and nightmares.

- Marguerite Tierney 2022

Artist Bio

Marguerite is a Newcastle based artist, early childhood visual arts educator and co- owner of Blackstone Gallery Newcastle. Marguerite has exhibited in galleries in Newcastle, Maitland and Melbourne and her works to date are described as 'cute, whimsical, unsettling and dark' (art edit, artel, invurt.) This style led her to collaborate with Virgin Australia, Melbourne's Let Them Eat Cake festival and Casey Donovan for her music video 'villain'

Although highly active in her art practice, Marguerite's passions equally lie in teaching visual arts in early childhood education, collaborating with artists for community events and programming exhibitions for Blackstone Gallery Newcastle with her Husband and co- gallery owner, Tim Moran.

'Mindstate' is Marguerite's sixth solo exhibition.

MINDSTATE
Opens Friday 16 September. 6-9pm.
Sat–Thurs 22 September. 11am-4pm.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place, Hamilton

Exhibition Statement

Ceramicist Brigitte Beyer, aka BRB Ceramics, creates pieces that hold the reminiscent echoes of ancient vessels, yet are futuristic in form.

M O M E N T U M showcases the meeting point between ceramics, light and installation art.

This exhibition was born of the move to a new studio, a space edging out of Carrington onto Newcastle Port and train line.

In the depths of making and the still solitude of the studio, a sense of equanimity was felt in the industrial hum of the landscape. The physicality of this industrial environment filtered into the mood of the show.

In the demanding presence of the finished pieces, the soft materiality of which the forms were constructed remains elusive.

The installation of the works invites you to immerse yourself in the landscape and find moments of stillness in our endless momentum.

Artist Bio

Ceramicist Brigitte Beyer aka. BRB Ceramics creates pieces that echo ancient vessels, reminiscent of futuristic archetypes. With this exhibition she meshes her previous life of light and installation art explored within her Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) 2018 as a way to showcase the ceramic works.

M O M E N T U M
Opens Friday 2 September. 6-9pm.
Saturday 3 September. 11am-4pm.

Onwards Gallery
6 Torpey Place, Hamilton