Edwina Corlette Gallery presents ‘IN THE STICKS’, a new exhibition by Sydney-based artist Jane Guthleben, whose practice reimagines the still life tradition through a distinctly Australian lens.
Guthleben draws upon the vanitas genre of the Dutch Golden Age, where flowers, books, and insects symbolised the transience of life and the fragility of human endeavour. In her hands, this symbolic language is revitalised through the vibrant colour and light of the Australian environment. Working in brushy impasto, she emphasises the richness, diversity, and texture of indigenous flora while weaving in birds, insects, and shells that reference ecological themes, humour, and environmental fragility.
In ‘IN THE STICKS’, Guthleben presents elaborate still life compositions of Australian native flora, birds and insects. Their opulent, gravity-defying arrangements defy logic and duration, perched on rickety tables or within fantastical urns adorned with art historical and natural history motifs.
Jane Guthleben studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours at the University of New South Wales in 2015. She has been a finalist in numerous major prizes including the Archibald Prize (2020), Mosman Art Prize (2019, 2012), the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2023, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018), the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award (2018), Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize (2019, 2017) and the Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize (2015).
Image: Tropic of Capricorn Arrangement with Brolga after Audubon, 2025, oil on linen
