Victoria Reichelt’s latest series of works look at the natural world through constructions of artificial landscapes featuring plants made from materials that are damaging to the environment. Using tree and cloud shaped helium balloons, these synthetic landscapes subvert the standard landscaping viewing experience, by displaying both alluring and repellent characteristics. At first glance the works are appealing to look at, but upon closer inspection the viewer is invited to consider the way the materials that the landscapes are made from hint at the sinister effects that humans are having on their environment.
Natasha Bieniek’s miniature sized oil paintings are painted with meticulous precision. These jewel-like works offer a contemporary take on historical painting traditions of illuminated manuscripts and miniature portraits of the 16th century. Their diminutive scale and glossy surfaces also reflect on the way we view images today, bringing to mind smart phones and tablet screens. Her most recent paintings explore the relationship between human beings and the natural world.
Natasha Bieniek won the Wynne Prize and the Portia Geach in 2015 and has been a finalist in the Archibald prize for the past five consecutive years. In 2006 she was the winner of the Nino Sanciolo Art Prize- a scholarship to study ancient painting in Florence, Italy. In 2012 Bieniek was the winner of the Metro Art Award (Melbourne) and was awarded runner-up in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (Sydney). Other short-listed prizes include The National Artists Self-Portrait Prize, The University of Queensland Art Museum (2013), The Redlands Westpac Art Prize (2012), The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (2011) and the Royal Bank of Scotland Art Award (2010).
Image top: Victoria Reichelt Australian Landscape (trees) 2019
Image below: Natasha Bieniek Peak #2 (Hong Kong) 2019
