The Garden Curator

Garden designer | Landscape designer | Landscape illustrator

Artist Statement & CV

ARTIST STATEMENT

Delicate, ethereal and finely detailed, Colleen’s works encourage the onlooker to slow, look closely, engage the imagination and connect with the cycle of life around us. Her meticulous art making process requires her to do the same.

Drawing on her background in horticulture and landscape design, Colleen’s unique art practice is a celebration of nature, both wild and cultivated.

Her delicate three-dimensional paper sculpture and mixed media works are reminiscent of herbarium and entomology specimens. Each finely drawn, painted and assembled piece is mounted onto paper using entomology pins, giving the appearance of floating. The delicate nature of the works and transient play of shadow signifies the fragility of the subject.

Colleen exhibited for the first time in early 2018 with a sell-out result. Her work was awarded the celebrated Little Things Art Prize People’s Choice Award in 2018, selected for the 2018 Artisans in the Gardens exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, and finalist in the 2019 Outback Art Prize.

ARTS PRACTICE

  • November 2017 – current. Artist – full time, practicing paper sculpture and mixed media artist. This practice has grown exponentially since late 2017 and has become a full- time pursuit.
  • 2010 – November 2017. Practicing landscape designer specialising in hand drawn and rendered plans and commissioned aerial illustrations of gardens and properties. This has been largely put on hold to enable pursuit of professional art practice.

AWARDS

  • Finalist, Little Things Art Prize, Saint Cloche Gallery, 2019
  • Finalist, Pro Hart Outback Art Prize, Broken Hill Regional Gallery, 2019..
  • Finalist and winner of the Viewer’s Choice Award, Little Things Art Prize, Saint Cloche Gallery, Paddington NSW, 2018.
  • Recipient of the TNSW State Medal for Excellence in Horticulture, awarded for excellence in horticultural practice, design and drafting and hand rendered plan illustrations.

EXHIBITIONS

  • Rekindled, Saint Cloche Upstairs, 2019
  • Essentiae, Gallery One88, Katoomba May 2019
  • Unfurl, Corner Store Gallery, Orange NSW 2018. Joint exhibition with sculptor Peter Worsley. This was Colleen’s inaugural exhibition and was a sell-out.

Group Exhibitions (by invitation or application)

  • Here and Now, Orange Regional Gallery, 2019
  • Finalist, Pro Hart Outback Art Prize, Broken Hill Regional Gallery, 2019
  • 8 x 10, Corner Store Gallery, Orange NSW 2019
  • Artisans in the Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, 2018
  • Finalist and peoples choice winner, Little Things Art Prize, Saint Cloche gallery, Paddington NSW 2018.
  • Blue, Corner Store Gallery, Orange NSW 2018
  • Just a Square, Darling Mills Gallery, Mittagong NSW 2018

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

  • “Into the Wilder” Corner Store Gallery, Orange NSW, solo exhibition November 2019.
  • Suki and Hugh Gallery Bungendore, March 2020 (details to be announced)

COMMISSIONS

  • 2017 – current: Since the launch of Colleen’s work at the Unfurl exhibition, over 50 private commissions have been received for paper sculpture/mixed media works, with works also being sold into the United States.
  • 2010 – current: Private commissions taken for aerial illustrations of gardens and properties for various clients within the Central West region.

Memberships

  • Member by invitation, The Journeyperson arts collective, Orange NSW.
  • National Association for the Visual Arts.

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  • Roses, Cotinus, Black Lace elderberry and Queen Anne's Lace gathered from the garden today. Aren't they lovely! Just taking a moment to wander the garden, then it's off to town in the morning to gallery sit for Into the Wilder. Best of both worlds!
  • Into the Wilder is on the walls @cornerstoregallery Orange, ready to roll! Online sales open tonight at 8pm on the gallery website, www.cornerstoregallery.com. Doors open at 10am tomorrow Tuesday 12th, I'll be in the gallery to say hello and show you around! Grab a coffee from @billsbeans_eastorange on the way😋, then wander up to the Corner Store. Perfect! 😊
  • Just through this gate in the corner of the garden, you'll find the "party" tree (more about it a few posts ago). You'll also find two cheeky little Irish donkeys and a mob of freshly shorn sheep with lambs at foot, yell "c'mon!" and they'll come running for food. On a little further at the bottom of the hill there's a creek that runs when it rains, a dam that provides life to the garden and diving ducks, a copse of old unruly quince trees, and our hill paddock spotted with eucalypts and boulders, perfect for hiding behind. Over the hill and through the forest is a little settlement with a church, a small country school, and a community hall, all treasured and filled with generations of stories. The garden gate does more than keep things out, it's an invitation to go beyond, or a place to pause and lean and ponder. Where does your garden gate lead you? Happy Sunday all, is it one for pause or adventure?🤔😊 . . . . . . #inspiredbynature #thesimplethings #thesimpleeveryday #inpraiseofslowness #simplepleasures  #springgarden #alittlebeautyeveryday #womenofplants #beyondthegardengate #gardengate #upthegardenpath  #gardenloves #countrylife #countrygarden #countryliving #slowliving #slowgardening #countrystyleloves #fortheloveofplants #plantlovers #adayinthegarden #theresnoplacelikehome #happydays #youwillfindmeinthegarden #backtonature #mybackyard #amomentofpause #sunday
  • For a little insight into life in the studio and the background to my work, Madi from the @cornerstoregallery has just posted her recent studio visit, interview and photos in the gallery blog at www.cornerstoregallery.com/blog. It was a fun morning, lots of chatting and a bit of grandma's date and ginger loaf involved! All images are by @madi_young. Thanks Madi! Madi and I will be hanging works for Into the Wilder this weekend, ready for doors opening on Tuesday 12th, and online sales opening at 8pm Monday 12th. Nearly there!
  • My first ever podcast interview with friends @janegerrish @ingridbowenart and @samantha_mackie is live! It's a friendly chat about our art practices and work in the lead up to the Rekindled exhibition @saint_cloche, hosted by the fabulous "Rekindle" podcaster, author, founder of Flying Solo and all-round small business champion, Robert Gerrish. This interview takes place at the recent artist talk at our show " Rekindled", ( yes, the show and the podcast coincidentally have nearly the same name...). Find the podcast, Rekindle, wherever you get your podcasts, or go to Robert's website........ https://www.robertgerrish.com/podcast. Pop over to Sam, Ingrid and Jane's feeds for some background on their work. They're a lovely and talented bunch!
  • "Into the Wilder" is an exhibition of works that take a walk on the wild side. Layers of delicate paper plants, insects and nests together in a step by step ramble through the wild landscape underfoot. Each individual piece, every leaf, petal and wing is individually drawn in fine pigment pen, watercoloured, cut with tiny scissors, embossed and shaped, assembled, then pinned with entomology pins. Reminiscent of herbarium and entomology specimens, they are intended to invite pause and close observation. "Into the Wilder" is my first solo show, hooray! Eighteen pieces in varying sizes will be exhibited, all beautifully framed in lined Australian oak box frames, by the fabulous @framingmarvellous in Orange. The show opens at our wonderful local gallery @cornerstoregallery Orange, on Tuesday 12 November and runs until the 24th. Online sales open at 8pm Monday 11th on the gallery website, www.cornerstoregallery.com. Hope to see you there! . . . #intothewilder #orange360 #wherethewildthingsare #theartofslowliving  #ofsimplethings #wearecustodians #naturespeaks #alittlebeautyeveryday  #shapeandform #themindfulapproach #ebbandflow #awalkonthewildside #curatednature #cornerstoregallery #colleensouthwellartist #botanicalart #australianartist #upcomingexhibitions #papersculpture #naturewalk #flora #thenaturalwayofthings #thesimplerthings #nest #thistle #buyfromthebush
  • Rain makes the garden sing, and it's a happy song! Walking the garden this morning - after rain it's a blissful sensory experience, and one worth taking slowly. The birds and crickets lead the chorus, and the rain drops off weighted branches, the beat. There's a heady smell of damp earth and eucalypt (and wet sheep, truth be known, not as unpleasant as it may seem). "Petrichor", the smell of earth after first rain, is the most heavenly smell and one laced with emotion. I think we are wired to love it, perhaps due to our deep-rooted ties to the land. The colours are luminous too, washed of their skin of dust, glossy and reflecting light. The land is wearing an air of renewed hope. Aren't we all.