SPACE 1 : Group Show “Still Life”
Exhibition dates. 1 - 13 July 2025
Opening Reception : Wed 2 July 2025, 6:00 - 8:30 pm
STILL LIFE
Traditionally tied to domesticity, beauty, mortality, and material culture, the still life has long invited quiet reflection. In contemporary art, the genre is being reimagined—no longer just about objects, but about presence, absence, and transformation.
This exhibition explores how artists today are expanding the still life, using it to question permanence, engage memory, and reflect on our shifting relationship with the material world.
Artists : Elaine Batton, Fran Max, Mr Dimples, Melanie Bardolia, Nick Heynsbergh and Olga Tsara
Elaine Batton
Elaine is a graduate from Photography Studies college. Her fine art photography works are influenced by paintings through the ages and seeks to celebrate beauty and colour. As a visual artist she strives to ensure that beauty in fine art and nature continues to be explored and enjoyed.
She has exhibited solo and as part of groups around Australia, and was a finalist in the 2016 & 2017 Bowness Prize, in the 2016 & 2018 Fremantle Art Centre Print Award, a finalist in the 2021 Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize, the 2021 Wyndham Art Prize. the 2024 Omnia Art prize and Finalist in the PCP (perth centre for photography) CLIP award 2024
Catalogue
Fran Max
Fran is a Modern Contemporary Artist from Melbourne Australia presenting natural everyday moments of life in an uplifting and sometimes comical manner. Fran’s artworks start in reality from lived experience and evolve on the canvas leaning in to memory and intuition. Fran invites the viewer to connect with her artwork in an uplifting way using imagination to complete the story in her work.
Mr Dimples
Mr Dimples was born one terrifying night when a prowler tried to break into his home. To get his mind off the event, he created art to release his frustrations. Influenced by the art of Tim Burton, Mr Dimples then started to create monsters based on people and events that annoyed him. His well-known characters are predominately seen on the streets of Bendigo, usually with the Paste up technique. His street art techniques were learnt through his association with Blender Studios in Melbourne, where he was introduced to paste ups, stenciling and free hand spraying. Mr Dimples is a local street artist working from his home studio. He also is an Arts/Woodwork teacher at a school in the Loddon Shire. Some of his work includes murals at Boris Murgers, Killiecrankie wines, Miller Street Bridge underpass and Chancery Lane.
Melanie Bardolia
Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and now based in Melbourne, Melanie is an oil painter who creates dynamic and evocative works using a vibrant colourist palette and bold impasto marks. Her approach merges abstraction and realism, blending the emotive qualities of her subjects with painterly expressions. Her process celebrates the beauty and emotion that arise from everyday moments, portraying her subjects in a style that balances spontaneity with intent. She was a finalist in the Still Life Prize at TACIT Galleries, National Emerging Art Prize at Michael Reid Galleries, and Quadrant Gallery’s Emerging Artists Summer Exhibition.
Nick Heynsbergh
Nick Heynsbergh is a visual artist working across a range of media including painting, drawing and printmaking. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours at RMIT in 2013. He has held solo exhibitions at various galleries in Melbourne, and participated in local and international group shows. In 2020 and 2021 he was an exhibiting finalist in a number of art prizes, and was highly commended by the judges in the Macquarie Emerging Artist Prize, Elaine Birmingham Watercolour Prize and National Capital Art Prize. Recently, his practice has reflected on experiences and memories relating to queer identity, to encourage viewers to engage with the lived experiences and perspectives of members of the LGBTIQA+ community. Additionally, his works aim to promote the sharing of experiences between LGBTIQA+ viewers to generate new community bonds and strengthen existing ones.
Olga Tsara
Working in oils and collage, this practice draws on classical techniques to explore beauty, narrative, and the absurd. Using personal, vintage, and found photographs, the work is shaped by two decades immersed in photographic archives, revealing a deep interest in the truths and fictions of imagery.
Catalogue
