the artist
Artist Colleen Southwell is inspired by nature, both wild and cultivated. Reverent, ethereal and fragile, her paper sculpture invites the viewer to pause for a moment to study, engage, and connect with the wonder of the life around us. Her meticulous art making process requires her to do the same. By its pure nature, her work cannot be rushed.
Colleen’s three-dimensional works reflect botanical, entomological and ornithological elements. Each piece is a delicate combination of detailed drawing in pigment, watercolour, fine gauge wire, gently manipulated paper and occasional found materials. These fragile pieces are mounted using entomology pins, giving the appearance of floating and employing shadow as a transient feature of the work.
Photo by Em Wollen
“The finished works allude to scientific herbarium and entomology specimens, often a combination of both, and are intended to be observed closely. My intention is for the work to be beautiful and reverent - paying homage to the brilliance of nature and a reflection of its fragility.
Each element is mostly imaginary, a compilation of observed patterns and forms that can be discovered when we take the time to pause, look, and really see. This is where joy lies, in the simple day to day.”
Colleen
Colleen's inaugural exhibition Unfurl, a duo with fellow artist Peter Worsley in 2018, was a sell-out and the seed of her growing art practice. She has since had several sell-out exhibitions and her pieces are in demand by collectors in Australia and internationally. Her work is held in a number of private collections including the exclusive The Fifth Hotel, Fifth Avenue New York, and has been shown in exhibitions in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
Colleen is a recipient of the People’s Choice Award at the highly contested Little Things Art Prize at Saint Cloche Gallery Sydney, and was selected as a finalist in the prestigious Pro Hart Outback Art Prize and York Botanic Art Prize. Her work has been shown on numerous occasions by invitation at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney (receiving the people’s Favourite Artist award), and in the invitational Australian and USA exhibitions of international contemporary art magazine, Beautiful Bizarre. She has been listed in the Beautiful Bizarre Top 100 Paper Artists internationally.
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