Q and A with Colleen Southwell, The Corner Store Gallery, photograph by Madeline Young.

I still pinch myself every time I think about the fact that The Corner Store Gallery was the first ever space to exhibit Colleen Southwell’s work back in 2018. It took some convincing on my behalf for Colleen to brave the public sphere (she’s very modest) and boy-oh-boy am I glad she did. Colleen’s first exhibition sold out before Opening Night and her career as an artist has been on a steep upwards trajectory ever since.

I’m extremely proud to say that Colleen Southwell is a local Orange resident, a true regional talent. Her work is instantly recognisable and unique. The painstaking attention to detail and fine skill demonstrated is something to be revered. It is impossible to view Colleen’s work and not be impressed.

In Safe Keeping is Colleen’s newest solo exhibition and we are so excited to present it to you this November 17th to 28th. Pre-sales launch via our website at 8pm November 16th. Colleen will be in the gallery for most of the exhibition period if you’d like to pop in and meet the artist in person!

View the Exhibition Catalogue

*Found and Gathered, Collection #2,* Colleen Southwell, The Corner Store Gallery.

Tell us about your art's progression since we first exhibited your work back in 2018. What's changed? What has remained constant?

Following my first exhibition at the Corner Store in 2018 my art practice has become full time, replacing my previous garden design business and continuing to grow. I am still overwhelmed by the interest in my work, the media coverage I’ve received and now the growing international interest. I have just completed my largest work by far which will feature in a property on Fifth Avenue New York, and I’ve been invited to participate in shows overseas in 2022. My work has become more complex, more detailed, and has moved beyond plant and insects as the subject. Always though, it is informed by the little details of the natural world, my connection to the garden and the landscape.

What's the theme for this new body of work? How does it differ from previous pieces?

My last exhibition at the Corner Store, Into the Wilder, was a walk through the landscape. This exhibition is a pause, collection and study of the individual elements within it.

Since studying horticulture years ago I have been fascinated with herbarium specimens. This interest extends too to natural history collections and the importance they have in recording and celebrating the life that is too often overlooked. There is something wonderful about the taking of a single specimen from thousands, millions, and elevating it to a position of great importance, to be studied and treasured. These individuals are valued, just as their species should be in entirety.

My studio too is full of treasures collected from the garden and on walks – nests, feathers, seeds, dried plants – I find them as beautiful in stillness and decline as in full growth. They are a constant source of wonder and inspiration.

This is the first time you've created birds, why and how have you done this?

Birds are such a precious part of our day to day life at home and in the garden – they bring great joy and it’s such a privilege to have them choose our garden as their home. I have been wanting to include them as an element of my work for some time, but wasn’t quite sure how to do it with paper! Recently I’ve taken some time to explore ways of making the structure, ensuring that they are captured in a gentle way. I’m keen to do more, to keep playing with forms and feathers and see where it goes. I would love to create some pieces mounted in glass cloches or boxes, there are structural things to work out but it’s unfolding.

*Plumology Collection #1*, Colleen Southwell, The Corner Store Gallery.

You've found some new materials, tell us about them and how you find them.

I’ve discovered some Italian and Japanese papers which offer new ways to sculpt and shape forms. Paper is a delicate medium and there are boundaries to how far it can be manipulated, but these papers are allowing me to push these boundaries.

What's your favourite part of the process at the moment?

The path of experimenting with new papers and forms like the birds and fungi is exciting, and every season in the garden inspires new directions, it’s constantly changing. It can be hard to find the time to “play” with materials to ensure that my work continues to evolve, and the busier I get the harder it is to remain connected to the underpinning philosophy of my work, that is to slow down and appreciate. Ironically, in order to keep growing my work, I need to take time to be still. It’s a challenge faced my many!

Q and A with Colleen Southwell