This painting was sparked by a US studio residency at Yellowstone National Park, shortly after Trump’s election. In America, Chin witnessed conservative nationalism and divisiveness, but also an equal reaction promoting diversity and challenging structural inequality. Developing this work in Australia, Chin examined how a sense of place forms fluidly in the consciousness, to surpass geographic borderlines.

Kevin Chin is a local artist. He has been a finalist in the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art (2015, 2019). In this painting Chin explores economic, cultural and social structures that shape the world in which we live, questioning who has built what, who takes ownership, and who has the right to the land.

Landscape painting depicting a house (upside down) and a half finished urban structure sitting amongst mountain peaks and land that has been cleared and immersed in fog/smoke.

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landscape, kevin, chin, structural, inequality, castle, trump, painting, nillumbik, residency, yellowstone, realism, oils

Recipient of the Local Prize, Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art 2019. The imprints of eucalyptus ficifolia, eucalyptus polyanthemus, grevilia robusta and casuarina verticillata onto woollen blankets. They tell a story of home and comfort, of legacy and place, of connection and continuity.

Large wall hanging comprised of strips of recycled woollen blankets stitched together. Each strip has been printed (eco dyed) with organic matter local to the Shire of Nillumbik

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eco dying, wool, blanket, wall hanging, environment, botanical printing, nillumbik prize, local prize recipient, local prize recipient, eucalyptus ficifolia, eucalyptus polyanthemus, grevilia robusta, casuarina verticillata, nillumbik, karena goldfinch

Nillumbik Prize finalist (2018, 2016, 2015, 2014). The artist lives and works in Nillumbik. Abstract sculpture inspired by the artist attending a local ceremony in Nillumbik to harvest tubers of the Murnong (yam daisy), a traditional staple of the Wurundjeri people. Wirth was also inspired by the writing of Bruce Pascoe. Wirth works intuitively with awareness that meaning may be deciphered through the combination of material/mediums/techniques that she uses randomly. Through the process of experimentation and automatism Wirth allows her work to evolve organically. Wirth is represented in public art collections including: Victorian College of the Arts, Victorian Performing Arts Centre and Ararat Regional Gallery. She also completed a residency at Laughing Waters in 2012.

Yellow abstract sculpture woven into a vessel with long tentacles using cotton yarn.

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finalist, nillumbik prize, abstract, textile, yellow, vessel, yam

Imam is represented in the Nillumbik Shire Art Collection and was the winner of the 2015 Nillumbik Prize for her work "Diagram of sentiment #1" (judged by Linden New Art Director Melinda Martin). She was also a finalist in the Nillumbik Prize 2016, 2015, 2013 and 2010. Imam completed a residency at Laughing Waters in 2011. Imam works within photography, the moving image and installation to create works centred on themes of embodiment and the female perspective. In this work she participates in a dialogue between her body and the Finnish Archipelagos in order to develop a relationship with the islands as both a place and an organic body [of land] where flux and change occurs.

Photograph of the artist immersed from the waist down in green moss (landscape).

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finnish, archipelago, inkjet, print, photographic, body, island, moss

Nillumbik Prize 2018 finalist. The artist lives and works in Nillumbik. A juxtaposition of the mechanical (digital camera) with the hand painted. Each turning page exposes the artist’s own experiences and responses to his environment. The book unfolds into a sequence of pages that opens up to a landscape.

digital photographs and hand painted (detailed/cropped) images of trees on paper, encased in an archival box.

Video of artist painting the facade of a concrete warehouse into a ‘Trompe-l’oeil’ landscape painting using fire extinguishers as paint brushes. The warehouse slowly disappears into the landscape.

The abstraction and colours refer to the modernist abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko.

Nillumbik Prize 2018 Winner. The artist lives and works in Nillumbik. Inspired by modernist abstraction the work is a reflection of current times, exploring our relationship with technology and its’ impact on our social, personal and professional lives.

Blurred abstract image in warm colours: yellow, orange and brown. Loading circle in white at the centre of the image.

photograph, digital print, rothko, modernism, instagram, abstract, loading

Painter, printmaker and installation artist John Wolseley was born in Somerset, England. He lived and worked throughout Europe before relocating to Australia in 1976. His work explores how people dwell and move within landscape. Wolseley see's himself as a hybrid mix of artist and scientist; one who tries to relate the minutiae of the natural world - leaf, feather and beetle wing - to the abstract dimensions of the earth's dynamic systems. Using techniques of watercolour, collage, frottage, nature printing and other methods of direct physical or kinetic contact Wolseley finds ways of collaborating with the actual plants, birds, trees, rocks and earth of a particular place. George Baldessin was one of the first artists John Wolseley met when he arrived in Australia in 1976. Both immigrated to Australia and connected through this shared experience. They were both at 'Realities Gallery' with Marianne Baillieu in the 1970s and 80s. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.

'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. Communion and collaboration with nature are central to Wolseley's practice. He assembles different drawing methods to represent a kind of inventory or document about the state of the earth. His interest is to paint the processes and energy field of the living systems of this land. 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' is his continued exploration of Australia's natural eco-systems. The beetle attacks the eucalypt and in the process of tunnelling into the wood of the tree leaves scribbly patterns. The work celebrates the cycle of life, and the wisdom and delicacy of these creatures. This three dimensional work consisting of three layers of paper is a varied edition, offering just the slightest difference between each print, reflective of variation in nature. The found log used as a woodcut acknowledges the interconnectedness of nature and living beings; the log is not apart from the art and the beetle has become an active artistic collaborator.

An intimate and layered print of a tree log with line trails from the Longicorn beetle. Patches of pink, yellow and orange watercolour placed randomly. Woodcut from found log and etching on chine-colle with water colour on Gampi (top layer), Mulberry (middle layer) and Arches (bottom layer) paper.

In pencil (handwritten): low plate: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' (title); right 'John Wolseley' (signature); low paper: right emboss 'GB' (Baldessin Press & Studio monogram)

woodcut, etching, chine-colle, landscape, environment, longicorn beetle, print, baldessin, ekphrasis2018, eco, mixed media