Sunday Arts Magazine

26 Apr 2021

Kate Gorringe – Smith Curator Mornington Peninsula Gallery

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Kate Gorringe – Smith Curator Mornington Peninsula Gallery

The Overwintering Project is a long-term environmental art project that unites artists around Australia to raise awareness for our most endangered group of birds, migratory shorebirds, and their habitat, focusing on Westernport as an internationally significant migratory shorebird habitat.

The exhibition features 16 artists who have produced new work in a variety of media inspired by the local Westernport environment. Exhibition curator Kate Gorringe-Smith’s work is print-based; Eastern Curlew, Westernport Icon is a homage to the complex Westernport environment and to the Eastern Curlew, our most endangered migratory shorebird, that makes its home here. Featured artists include: Alexis Beckett, Andrej Kocis, Byron Scullin Heather Hesterman, Cathryn Vasseleu, Kate Gorringe-Smith, and many more, including the artists of the Overwintering Project Print Portfolio. (Full list of artists in attached media release)

The intention of the exhibition is to engage people with a local environment they may already know and love, sparking recognition and wonder for this unique place that we share with such amazing creatures. The Overwintering Project: Westernport also celebrates the 50^th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, is part of the 2021 Art+Climate=Change Festival, and is dedicated to the memory of Dr Clive Minton OAM, father of Australian shorebird research. The Overwintering Project: Westernport is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, by the VWSG, BirdLife Australia and the UNESCO Western Port Biosphere Reserve.

Also showing at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery is Among The Trees, a collection of new watercolour paintings inspired by Lauren Guymer’s encounters in the Australian landscape. Formed by her deep appreciation and connection to nature, these works are a visual representation of her experiences and the places she visits. Located just beyond her backyard on the Mornington Peninsula, the majority of these paintings depict the surrounding bushland, from trails winding through the native scrub to woodland along the coast.

Lauren Guymer is an Australian visual artist who primarily creates landscape drawings and paintings on paper. From the native bushland to places further afield, she is inspired by the natural world that surrounds her. The native bushland and coastal scenery near her home has been a large influence in her work and is revisited often.