Goldfields and Esperance artists will be showcasing their artworks at the Open Borders exhibition at John Curtin Gallery from August 12 until October 8.
The upcoming exhibition is the culmination of the three-year Mycelium project which was sparked in the closed borders of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project presented the work of more than 160 regional artists and curators as a way to nurture resilience and sustainability throughout the years-long pandemic.
Only 40 artworks from the 12 exhibitions were chosen to be displayed at the John Curtin Gallery.
Hopetoun artist Louise Lodge told the Kalgoorlie Miner a local exhibition under the Open Borders umbrella was held in November in Ravensthorpe, with artists selected from different exhibitions from across the State.
”I just address the title of remote and had a theme of fires, fires don’t know any borders that was kind of like what my painting was about. I did a painting of the fire burning my house, which happened in February 2022. . . I included some of the relics I picked up from the remains of the house such as a burnt-out tin of watercolours, tubes of paint that had been burnt out kitchenware, crockery,” she said.
Lodge said it was important for her to express her feelings about the fire in a visual form.
“I wanted to express the kind of brutality, the destructiveness of fire, and how I felt distant from it. In front of the painting, I have a silhouette of my face because of the numbness I felt I you know, it was surreal, and it was very hard to relate to,” she said.
Lodge said she had never exhibited at the John Curtin Gallery before and was “very excited about it”.
Esperance artists Lynda Horn and Marcia Leonard were also picked to be part of the exhibition, alongside Ravensthorpe artists Cat Tink, Judith Stewart and Lodge.
Melissa Drummond’s and Tina Carmody’s artworks were also selected to be featured as part of the Open Borders project.