Colleen Southwell

Ethereal and finely detailed, the work of local Orange artist Colleen Southwell encourages the onlooker to slow, look closely, engage the imagination and connect with the cycle of life around us. Her meticulous art making process requires her to do the same.

Drawing on her background in horticulture, Colleen’s unique art practice is a celebration of nature, both wild and cultivated.

Her delicate three-dimensional paper sculpture and mixed media works are reminiscent of herbarium and entomology specimens. Each finely drawn, watercoloured and assembled piece is mounted onto paper using entomology pins, giving the appearance of floating. The delicate nature of the works and transient play of shadow signifies the fragility of the subject.

In early 2018, Colleen exhibited for the first time with a sell-out result. Her work was awarded the celebrated Little Things Art Prize People’s Choice Award in 2018 and selected again as a finalist in 2019, chosen for the 2018 Artisans in the Gardens exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, and finalist in the 2019 Pro Hart Outback Art Prize.

Heart Place Group Exhibition, May 22 - June 1 2024.

Q and A with Colleen Southwell, 2024.

Colleen Southwell exhibition catalogue In Safe Keeping, November 2021.

Read our interview with Colleen in 2019 here and take a tour of her artist studio.

Colleen Southwell Interview with The Plant Hunter, November 2019.