Benalla Art Gallery’s newest exhibition celebrates nationally regarded, Lurg-based artist Pauline Fraser.
Ms Fraser’s exhibition Contemplating Nature includes prints and ceramics, which invite viewers into the Lurg landscape surrounding her home studio.
Environmental concerns have driven her practice for multiple decades.
The inspiration for this body of work was a heightened emotional response to the land brought about by two powerful converging forces; the bushfire season of 2019-2020, and the recent succession of lockdowns, which saw the artist spend more time at home, forging an even closer connection to local surrounds.
Ms Fraser’s work reflects the drama of the Lurg landscape, highlighting its ferocity and fragility.
She provides viewers an insight into the light and the wind, the silence and how it is interrupted by the cracking of lightning or a crackling underfoot, the vast emptiness and the closeness of the moon.
Ms Fraser said the geography of Lurg in Summer was starkly and dramatically beautiful, and for an artist, a constant fascination.
“Living high on this hillside I am closer to the sun and the moon,” Ms Fraser said.
“Which makes for greater exposure to the often-unsettled weather patterns, where lightning can strike these hill tops with terrifying ferocity and have caused fire.
“And where I imagine the sun is ripping the grasses from the land, whilst the night moon feels like a constant companion.
“It is a place which exudes quietness, where there is both a silence and sound of silence.”
Benalla Art Gallery director Eric Nash said he was excited to see visitors’ response to the new exhibition.
“Pauline Fraser is an immensely talented artist living and working within our region, but also producing work about our region,” Mr Nash said.
“The vivid colours of her prints draw you in, and I’m particularly keen to see how gallery viewers marvel at the tiny details captured in her breathtaking installation of ceramic flora and fauna.”
Pauline Fraser: Contemplating Nature is on show in Benalla Art Gallery’s Simpson Gallery until Sunday, February 13.