Phillipa Sturgess

b 1957 Ayr, QLD | lives Rockhampton, QLD

I Print, Therefore.. . | 2023 | lino print and press | Courtesy of the artist

When Shin Nihon Zokei retired from a lifetime as a students' etching press, it decided it was time to pursue its own creative journey. Inspired by Eduardo Paolozzi's deconstruction of Alan Turing's code breaking computer, Zokei began by printing images of its own parts; a wheel, a handle, and a name plate. As these images became more confident, they started to coalesce until they formed a complete self-portrait. As Zokei considered the next step in its artistic path, it wondered if this would satisfy Dr Turing's test for machine sentience.

Sarah Larson

b 1953 Theodore, QLD | lives Theodore, QLD

Elemental | 2023 | cold wax medium, gesso, art graff, oil pigment, oil stick, charcoal, graphite on board.

Contained Space | 2023, laser cut acrylic sheet [Internal lighting not on in catalogue images].

Courtesy of the artist

'It was the line and space that first drew my attention to Victor Pasmore's Metamorphosis 7. Its negative spaces and simple use of straight and curved lines inspired me to create and experiment in different media. I've merged cold wax with drawn, painted and printed images. My latest pieces are inspired by ma, the Japanese concept of negative space, applied by incorporating light and shadow within the works.'

Carmel Knowles

b 1955 Mt Morgan, QLD | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Indelible | 2023 | tin sculptural assemblages | Courtesy of the artist

In Max Lovell's Mount Morgan Sentinel, the ominous presence of the obsolete stack casts a long shadow over the deserted mine site waiting for the next company to try their luck extracting gold from tailings. The quest to discover wealth hidden below the surface came at a high price. The landscape has been unnaturally reshaped, leaving scars, open cuts, blistered slag and ecosystems destroyed. For years trickling acid mine drainage had stained the river. In 2013, an uncontrolled flow of toxic water turned the river a beautiful shade of blue green and the river rocks orange.

In 1993, the abandoned mine site became a Ward of the State Government. Ironically, while extreme wealth flew out of the mine, millions of dollars are now being spent to partially rehabilitate the site. The Fireclay Caverns form part of the indelible dreamtime stories of the Ghungalou Nation and need to be stabilised and conserved for their historical and cultural significance. Nature is fighting back. Dotted across the mine is a superpower plant, pteris vittata (Chinese brake fern). It sucks up arsenic and thrives. Mining's indelible marks cannot be erased, forgotten or brushed aside.

Yvonne Moloney Law

b 1964 Yeppoon, QLD | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Beautiful Mine | 2023 | oil painting on canvas

Remnants and Reclamation | 2023 | photographic digital print

Regeneration | 2023 | photographic digital print

Mount Morgan Sentinel | 2023, photographic digital print

Courtesy of the artist

'The complex relationship between human industry and the natural environment has led me to focus on the hauntingly beautiful landscapes of the abandoned Mount Morgan mine site.

'The mine stands as a testament to the impact of human activity on the environment. Its abandoned structures and remnants blend seamlessly with nature's reclamation. My chosen medium for expressing this connection is through the manipulation of photographs, which then inspire the creation of vibrant and expressive oil paintings. The vibrant colours represent the resilience of nature, as it thrives even amidst the decay. I employ bold brushstrokes to convey the energy and dynamism of the landscape, evoking a sense of both despair and hope. By combining the manipulated photographs and the expressive paintings, I aim to create a dialogue between the two mediums. This dialogue speaks to humanity's simultaneous destruction and regeneration, highlighting the need for a harmonious coexistence with nature.'

Niloufar Lovegrove

b 1974 Tehran, Iran | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Red Uprising | 2024 | felt fabric, 3D printed recyclable PLA, and thread | Courtesy of the artist

'Red Uprising is, in a way, a Rorschach inkblot mirrored in my mind upon first encountering Red Meditation by David Rankin. For me, the white dots distinctly symbolized masses of protesters uniting for their basic human rights on the brutal ground.

'Picture this: after years and months of resistance against the oppressive regime, shop owners start rewarding customers struggling with rising everyday expenses by offering a giveaway if they enter dancing. Couples are dancing and singing on busy streets, while prisoners sing their hearts out with songs of freedom to visiting judges and judicial officials.

'In a parallel landscape, red and soft, hundreds of clouds of dreams rise to reside over the people who are dancing their way forward.'

Peta Lloyd

b 1953 Mildura, QLD | lives Coowonga, QLD

The Queen and Her Maids-In-Waiting are Dispatched Post-Haste, to the Beekeeper | 2023 | cardboard postage box, plaster bandage, encaustic medium, lino prints, postage stamps, pan pastels, and india ink | Courtesy of the artist

'I was drawn to Graham Sutherland's work, Nuptial Flight, the Dispatch of a Queen by Post for its poetic storytelling title, pastel colours, and simple, yet detailed depictions of the nuptial flight. The part that completely captured my imagination was the image of the queen bee's shipping box, complete with postage stamp.

'Researching Sutherland and his artistic practices led me to the portrait of Sir Winston Churchill, which Sutherland was commissioned to paint in 1954. This in turn led me to the connection between Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II, and back to Sutherland's queen bee in Nuptial Flight.

'I find it intriguing that queen bees are ordered online and posted to their new hives via the postal system. I chose cardboard postage boxes as my substrate, layering linocut prints and postage stamps of Queen Elizabeth II between encaustic beeswax with a hardener. Each postage box is addressed to a real or imagined beekeeper.'

Sally North

b 1959 Sydney, NSW | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Primal | 2024 | photogravure on cotton paper | Courtesy of the artist

'Bulls have been a part of our family business for the last 20 years and the catalyst for my current art practice. Gil Jamieson's Brahman Bulls Fighting was a natural choice.

'Fighting for bulls is primal, instinctive behaviour, showing the basic, sometimes confronting, side of people and animal life in the bush. His vibrant abstract works, even with minimal fine detail, portray strong emotion and recognisable form, depth and light. This photogravure is a black and white depiction of a primal being, portraying the bull's presence and strength.'

Nanette Balchin

b 1959 Brisbane, QLD | lives Yeppoon, QLD

My Universe Anything is Possible | 2023 | ink drawings from homemade brushes on etching paper | Courtesy of the artist

'Realize that everything connects to everything else' -- Leonardo da Vinci

'Alan Davie's Cosmic Signals inspired me to consider the vastness of the cosmic realm. As a jazz musician and artist, he used improvisation and intuition to create work evocative of exploding energy created by a central star mandala form. This resonated for me as the circle represent links across time and dimensions of existence.

'Cosmic energy is beautiful. The cosmos has its own life force. It is in a state of constant flux having an endless potential to transform itself. I believe there is a universe of possibilities to create and discover. My artwork is cosmic balls of energy and life -- created as 3D sphere forms using fibre arts sculpture and collage. Through dozens of pen and ink drawings from real life and from my imagination I created my catalogue of imagined cosmic life forces or "energy spheres." Part plant, part hybrid, part imagination of what is possible in both the cosmos and in nature.'

Linda Douglas

b 1956 Longreach, QLD | lives Brisbane, QLD

The Swarm | 2023, clay | Courtesy of the artist

'Graham Sutherland's aquatints are part of his lifelong exploration of the world of bees. For Sutherland, they offer an intimate link between art and nature, industry and independence. A bee's life is frenetic and short and in total, one bee produces but a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Like the artist, I have a curiosity of the natural world, and have a keen interest in the industry, life cycle, idiosyncrasies and the intrinsic value they provide as part of the ecology on this earth.'

Kathryn Kerr

b 1969 Toowoomba, QLD | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Unfolding | 2023 | cotton crocket thread, velvet paper and synthetic paper | Courtesy of the artist

"With my background in textiles, I was immediately drawn to Richard Smith's work. I was excited by his use of simple etchings on squares to create geometric shapes; which reminded me of log cabin-style quilting squares. Smith also folds the paper to achieve this, which is a quintessential textile process. The paperclips also add a collage element.

"In my process, I discovered the 'hypar', the name given by mathematicians to a three-dimensional parabolic shape formed by folding flat paper in concentric squares. At the same time, the piece is still true to my origins in the sense that it resembles a quilt configuration. Thus, Unfolding captures both the physical transformation of folding, used in both my piece and Richard Smith's, as well as my journey of exploration, discovery, finding solutions, pushing boundaries, and possibilities unfolding. The entire piece is held together not with Smith's paperclips, but my vernacular, stitch."

Belinda McGrath

b 1980 Rockhampton, QLD | lives Rockhampton, QLD

#norfolk.pine@emu.park | 2023 | print with sakura oil based ink on stitched cotton lawn | Courtesy of the artist

'I was captivated by Max Lovell's piece www.pricklypear@cunnumulla.com.au as a printmaker. Max Lovell has created what looks like a substantial etching, employing a gridded composition constructed from smaller plates. It piqued my interest and I sought to replicate this concept through a larger-scale relief print process. The partitioning in my work is equally as essential to the artwork's aesthetic appeal, offering viewers an opportunity to observe the piece from afar and draw closer to explore the intricate details within each section. The challenge of working on such a grand scale was both exciting and stimulating for me as an artist and a creative problem solver.'

Heather La Bash

b 1974 Oakland, United States | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Refreshing -- Kyoto Memory 2023 | 2024 | paper lithography and collage | Courtesy of the artist

I am responding to Demonstration in a Department Store by British pop artist Peter Blake. I strongly disliked Blake's work due to its use of explicit imagery in a context demeaning to Asian people. In contrast, I wanted to positively focus on elements of contemporary Asian art & material culture. I'm interested in how individuals curate their memories by selecting specific aspects of an event. Memories are dynamic and change as our experiences and knowledge evolve.

For this artwork, I primarily chose imagery developed in postwar Japan, a time period in Japanese art history that interests me, and images related to a recent trip to Japan. My work includes manipulations of Thai-inspired Japanese labels from a popular salty lychee drink, and a combination of my own drawings of sculptures I viewed in an exhibition of the postwar avant-garde ceramics group, Sodeisha. Specifically, the works include Storyteller (Kataribe) by Rikizo Kawakami; Spirit of Wind (Fujin) by Kumakara Junkichi; and Work B by Tadao Morisato.

Hanbing Lu

b 1983 Shanghai, China | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Sub Rosa from the series 'Lovers and Roses' | 2023 | watercolour on paper | Courtesy of the artist

"In response to Demonstration in the Department Store I by Peter Blake, where Chinese erotic images were cut out of their context and publicly displayed from a Western perspective, I sought to reverse the concept.

"My work portrays Western nude lovers concealed under roses, merging Chinese line drawing with watercolour. Sub rosa is a Latin phrase that means 'under the rose,' symbolising secrecy or confidentiality in discussions or information shared. The choice of two rose trees is tied to the Chinese phrase, 'good things come in pairs.'

"'Lovers and Roses' is my ongoing artwork series exploring the complexities and contradictions of love. As a gardener, I get inspirations from my beautiful roses. The delicate rose flowers, sharp thorns, and sturdy vines mirror the multifaceted nature of love; its joys and sorrows, highs and lows, beauty and pain. Despite the challenges that may arise in relationships, I believe true love can overcome all and transcend life and death."

Amanda Lawrence

b 1970 Rockhampton, QLD | lives Keppel Sands, QLD

Echoes and Ripples | 2024 | upholstered chair with lino print | Courtesy of the artist

Lefevre Cranstone's Lagoon, Emu Park is of a landmark that I encountered while traveling to and from school as a child. The lagoon and its surroundings have experienced significant human intervention. For several generations, members of my family have appreciated the beauty of the lagoon while simultaneously grappling with the damage that has occurred over time.

Approximately 35 years later, I now traverse a different landscape of wetlands and cabbage tree palms, which my children refer to as 'The Beautiful Forest'. The changes I observe are largely seasonal; I find joy in the rainy seasons when the wetlands, lilies, and birds flourish. Aware of the impact our actions have on future generations, I have depicted birds that form lifelong pairs as a symbol of hope and renewal in my vignettes, printed on fabric that now covers reupholstered chairs that once belonged to my grandparents. My creations serve as a place for contemplation on Cranstone's work and reflection on our past, present, and future.

Michele Kershaw

b 1961 Colac, VIC | lives Emu Park, QLD

Seven | 2023 | drypoint etchings, PVC embossed prints, and hand drawing on timber boxes | Courtesy of the artist

'Victor Pasmore's use of text in By What Means Can We Know? provided my idea of working with a number in my own artwork. Seven (7) represents a full and complete world. Each piece has a connection by the inclusion of seven pebbles replicating some of the larger stone shapes in my work.

'I've applied delicate layers of transparent prints and hand drawn marks. It is the simple shapes, textures and earthy colours that convey a more relaxed approach to the artwork, in conversation with Pasmore's work.

'The use of female forms is a recurring feature of my art practice, The boulder-like shapes suggest lived landscapes and reveal the subtle shifts in my life and art.'

Michelle Black

b 1973 Ipswich, QLD | lives Western Downs, QLD

Ripening to Gold | 2023 | woodblock print and inked black soil intaglio callagraph plate on kozo paper, unique state -- 1/1 | Courtesy of the artist

After 16 years, Michele Black's coastal landscape of Emu Park, Central Queensland, has given way to the agricultural landscapes of Western Downs in southern Queensland. Black describes her change of surroundings as a metamorphosis. In the artist's words, 'sub-tropical coastal scrub, lagoons and saltpans, rocky headlands, islands and the glittering sea have been replaced by rich, productive and vast black soil plains, patchworked with grain, cotton and legume crops and grazing lands. A landscape of repetition and pattern changing with the seasons. Fields ploughed in parallel, fallow or waiting for seed. Hectares of vivid shoots bursting from the furrows lie abreast of barley and wheat fields, ripening to gold under the big skies.'

Black is an experimental printmaker, inspired by landscape, who uses natural materials to provide a deeper connection to where she lives and works. In Ripening to Gold, Black has used organic material from the earth (black soil) in contrast with an abstracted representation of the ripened and harvested wheat and barley fields

Clare Ford

Umbrella: Chaotic Ikebana | 2023 | reduction lino print, variation 4 of 5

b 1971 Hobart, TAS | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Bismarck: Misaligned Origami | 2023| reduction lino print, variation 4 of 5 | Courtesy of the artist

Tanaka Ryohei's etchings of rural Japanese architecture and landscape induce a contemplative serenity. As well as presenting unmistakably Japanese subject matter -- here it's the autumnal leaves of the Japanese maple -- he also intricately illustrates the tranquillity and order that I imagine to be inherent in traditional Japanese life. In contrast, my two prints respond by presenting sub-tropical flora common to the Rockhampton region. My flora represent a somewhat untamed chaotic nature, mirroring the lifestyle of this area.

Lynn Zelmer

b 1943 Calgary, Canada | lives Rockhampton, QLD

Queensland Sugarcane/Mine Workers' Shack | 2023 | mixed media decoupage with digitally printed card | Courtesy of the artist

'Although Lesbia Thorpe's Mountain Shack likely portrays a High Country Victoria or New South Wales mining region, the work reminded me of the corrugated iron shacks built for Queensland's sugarcane and mine workers. My artwork is a three-dimensional version of the shack depicted in Thorpe's print, based on my research into historical Queensland dwellings. The project tested my computer and modelling skills for a model more than double the size of my previous works. The sculpture recreates as close to photorealistic textures as possible.'

Mame Du Bois

b 1976 Roma, QLD | lives Rockhampton, QLD

A Portrait of (Un)becoming | 2023 | digital photograph on archival pigment print | Courtesy of the artist

'My photographic work is a response to Victor Pasmore's Metamorphosis 5 (Linear Motifs): A Suite of Eight Images. I could not help but notice the semblance of the cockroach figure emerging from the chaotic tangle of etched lines, trapped on its back trying to right itself. The warm umber tones of the etching also lend itself to the domestic cockroach's exoskeleton.

'In Franz Kafka's novel Metamorphosis, the devolution of Gregor Samsa into an inhuman form is a powerful metaphor for the crushing weight of societal and familial expectations leaving us to become something far from our true nature. Reclaiming ourselves can be a Sisyphean task and a work that never truly ends. Having undergone immense physical and psychological change over my lifetime, inhabiting a body that never felt truly my own, this image embodies the past two years of my ongoing journey of reclaiming my own identity.'

Sambuddhananda Saraswati

b 1947 Sydney, NSW | d 2024 Yeppoon, QLD

Still Here -- Just From the Sky | 2023 | watercolour, gouache, and PITT artist pen on watercolour paper

Still Here -- Just From the Earth | 2023 | watercolour, gouache, and PITT artist pen on watercolour paper

Still Here -- Just From the Waters of the Great Barrier Reef | 2023

Courtesy of the artist

'Milton Moon's stoneware plate, from his "Kimono and Cherry Blossom" series, brought to the fore feelings of the east. How to express this? Endangered and vulnerable species came to mind. Don't ask me why.

'Here on the Capricorn Coast and Southern Great Barrier Reef they were easy to find. Sowerbaea subtilis is a perennial herb, similar to the vanilla lily but is more delicate. On their thin stems there are delicate clusters of pink to fuchsia coloured flowers. It is endemic to Shoalwater Bay and the Byfield area. They are listed as vulnerable. Capricorn yellow chat (dawson) Ephthianura crocea macgregori is a small bird, just 10 centimetres tall, which occupies the marine plains that are inundated with freshwater during the wet season. These plains support salt-tolerant sedges (grass-like plants) which the capricorn yellow chat uses for breeding. They are listed as critically endangered. Hump head or maori wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) is an enormous coral reef fish, which is found across the Indo-Pacific and can grow to over six feet in length and over 400 pounds in weight. Regrettably this wrasse is considered a delicacy for humans and is vulnerable to overfishing practices. This fish was put on the endangered list in 2004.'