Exhibition DateS
20 August - 27 September, 2026
Exhibition Opening
Saturday 22 August, 2026, 1 >4 pm.
Visual
Rating 100%
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‘What’s found behind and stays attached’ presents a series of responsive paintings that reflect my ongoing interest in land conservation and the ways ecological knowledge can be expressed through painting. This body of work is the outcome of my time as the recipient of the Urbach Scholarship at Shepparton Art Museum (SAM).
Over three months, I spent time immersed in the conservation work of the Euroa Arboretum and the Goulburn Broken Indigenous Seed Bank on the land of the Taungurung people, while also developing my painting practice in the SAM studio. My intention was to learn from and engage directly with the regenerative actions occurring at these sites. These experiences became the foundation for a studio process grounded in observation, intuition, and material response.
Returning to the studio, I created numerous oil studies on loose canvas—an exploratory process that allowed me to attune to the forms, rhythms, and colour palettes of the environments I had been spending time in. These informal works became a space to test mark-making and compositional approaches influenced by native plant forms and shifting ecological conditions.
The final works emerge from this process. They oscillate between abstraction and representation, drawing on the forms of native species such as Themeda triandra (Kangaroo Grass), Eucalyptus microcarpa (Grey Box), and Banksia marginata (Silver Banksia). These plants serve as visual and conceptual anchors within each composition.
Through these paintings—situated between research, reflection, and response—I hope to highlight the critical role of land conservation and to evoke a deeper awareness of our shared responsibility in caring for and regenerating ecological systems.
- Anthea Kemp, 2026.
Anthea Kemp completed a BFA (Painting) at RMIT, 2013 and a Master of Contemporary Art at the University of Melbourne (VCA), 2019. She has been exhibiting since 2015, showcasing her work in solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Regional Victoria, and Sydney. Additionally, her artwork has been included in group exhibitions across various locations, including Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and regional Victoria. Noteworthy exhibition spaces include Blindside ARI, Dominik Mersch Gallery, LON Gallery, Stockroom Gallery, Benalla Art Gallery, and Wangaratta Art Gallery. Anthea has also been recognized as a finalist in the Macquarie Group Emerging Artist Prize (2016), the Atheneum Club Visual Research Award (2019), the Len Fox Award at Castlemaine Art Museums (2022 & 2024), and the Bayside Painting Prize (2025). She was a recipient of the Macfarlane Fund Kyneton Residency in 2021, and in 2025, she was awarded the Urbach Landscape Prize and Studio Scholarship. Anthea's paintings are held in the collection of the Wangaratta Art Gallery, as well as in numerous private collections.