“It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere…”

A tiny soiree of elegant new works inspired by the glamour and fun of Happy Hour. Inspired by Tasmanian native flora, this custom set of handmade cocktail picks ornately reference the delicate and fragile nature of the plants they are inspired by in Emily’s signature botanical style.     

They are functional objects, perfectly suited to the most fabulous of occasions. A beautifully decadent garnish for your glass – after all “it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere”.

Emily is a multi-award winning Tasmanian studio Jeweller & SAC resident artist.

A window into the influence of the natural world on our urban experience through light and our perception of time. 

The installation, In Passing by SAC Resident Artist Christian Little, thematically explores time and our collective perception of the natural environment as ‘other’ in the urban landscape through a site-specific investigation of Salamanca. Utilising photographic imagery based within a systematic process of recording spaces throughout Salamanca repeatedly across months, documenting the natural change of weather, bloom, and decay.

Born from time in studio observing light cascade through the window from the courtyard outside. This installation draws attention to those unintentional moments spent in passing, encouraging an awareness of the ambient presence of the environment in our lives. Constructed using translucent acrylic sheets and paper, the materials and composition echo the original window experience of the artist. This collaboration with natural light changes the viewer’s perception of the installation throughout time of day and climate. Whilst the ephemeral quality of the semi-translucent photographs benefits from multiple viewings from different perspectives and an acute observation of nature’s aesthetic influence. Ultimately, ‘In Passing’ encourages a more intentional relationship with the surrounding processes of nature in the urban environment.

A graphic art installation featuring The Tree of Life with geometrical patterns, floral motifs, and Arabic Calligraphy by visual artist Halima Bhatti.

The Arabesque art coupled with geometrical patterns, motifs and Arabic Calligraphy made on The Tree of Life symbol, which is used by many cultures. This Turkish floral version captures vibrant colours often used in architecture in the Ottoman era.

The work is a manifestation of cultural Islamic art that artist has deep connections with, which focuses on the spiritual representation of objects and beings, made with the Tree of life symbol, which is a metaphor for the interconnectedness of all beings.

“Only by recognizing our roots, we can flourish in life, with wisdom, power and prosperity” – Halima Bhatti 

Works by Halima Bhatti.
Works by Halima Bhatti.

A sculptural installation featuring a giant balloon, light and some amount of pressure by visual artist Julien Scheffer.

Cell is an installation featuring a giant red balloon stuck inside the confined space of the Lightbox.

The balloon, jabbed by a needle-shaped metal tube, pushes against the windows of the gallery and appears to be on the verge of bursting. It is unchanging during the day and emits pulses of light at night. The work is a material representation of the feeling of being on the edge. We live in times of change and don’t know what’s coming. How long before our bubble bursts?

Have you ever carried home some treasure found in the bush or by the sea? A shell, a rock, a feather. Displaying it in your home with as much pleasure as any expensive antique or artwork. In Far South Fossicking, artist Henrietta Manning conveys the joy in those finds and the pleasure she finds in reusing and repurposing items, whether from the natural world or the castoffs of others.

“My art practice predominately consists of painting from life in acrylics. As a Contemporary Realist I explore themes and ideas that comment and focus attention on attitudes and choices made on how we live today. Increasingly I have been incorporating mixed media into my work, either as a component of the work or as an installation piece in an exhibition. 

Far South Fossicking builds upon past work such as the Eastern Foreshores Series, time capsules recorded through the coastal detritus of the Sydney coastline. The title was inspired by a fossicking box [a collection of excavated objects from old home sites in a tin box] loaned to me during a residency in the historic gold mining town of Walhalla. Gathering / fossicking found objects, both natural and manmade, from the area in which I live, the resulting work is a variety of small paintings and handmade objects. Plant material, shells, fossils, rocks, seaweed, bones, feathers have been combined with discarded manmade objects or incorporated into the monoprint process. The small paintings depict the natural ephemeral items that anyone can collect and enjoy if they look around them.

Rejecting the throw away culture of western consumerism, the Lightbox has become my own fossicking box. I hope you enjoy the collection and get as much pleasure as I have from the materials that nature provides.”
Henrietta Manning

Work by Henrietta Manning.
All works by Henrietta Manning.
All works by Henrietta Manning.

Henrietta Manning will also have an installation at Off Centre (Ground Floor, Salamanca Arts Centre) from Friday 4 – Thursday 17 November 2022.

Installations in the Lightbox and at Off Centre of work made from, and inspired by, found objects from the Far South of lutruwita /Tasmania.


Studio Waterloo in the Huon Valley.

Open Studio

Visit the beautiful Huon Valley and Henrietta Manning’s Studio throughout November 2022:
Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 November 2022, 10:00am – 4:00pm
Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 November 2022, 10:00am – 4:00pm
Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 November 2022, 10:00am – 4:00pm

Studio Waterloo (57 Glocks Road, Waterloo) is in a historic apple packing shed with stunning views down the Huon River to Sleeping Beauty and Mount Wellington. See the artist’s creative space, what she is currently working on and examples from prior series. Fossick in the storage rack to find something you might like to take home!  


Henrietta Manning in her Studio. Studio Waterloo in the Huon Valley

Henrietta Manning

Henrietta Manning is an established artist exhibiting since 1984 and currently living in Tasmania. A Contemporary Realist a recurrent theme in her work is the passage of time and how we live with and build upon the past. A recipient of an Australia Council Visual Arts/Craft Board ‘New Work Established Grant’ and finalist in Australian art awards such as The Wynne, Portia Geach, Waverly, Alice, Fishers Ghost, Eutick, Waterhouse and The Summer Exhibition in England. 

This installation by Elizabeth Barsham, Betty Nolan and Rebecca Watson features ceramic and sculptural creatures, and is a preview of the upcoming exhibition FLOCK at Nolan Art throughout October 2022.

A abstract ceramic horse, glazed in organge with light blue stripes. Included next to the sculpture are design drawings of the construction of the horse.
Betty Nolan. Trojan Horse
A green creature suspended from a thin cord. The creature is made from found objects, including garbage ags and rubber gloves and has tufts of red sprouting from it's back.
Elizabeth Barsham. Sadie the Sanitising Saurian.
Two ceramic donkey's heads. The head on the left has curly hair on it's head and ears twisted to the side. Whilst the other donkey's ears are blowing in the wind.
Rebecca Watson. Asses

State of Flux Workshop operates from Salamanca Arts Centre as a contemporary jewellery and object gallery and workshop.

Its four members, Anna Webber, Gabbee Stolp, Jane Hodgetts and Emma Bugg, create and retail work from the space. 

State of Flux Workshop strives to create a greater connection with mainland peers and instil themselves in the national and global conversation of contemporary jewellery and objects.

In September 2021, State of Flux Workshop was successful in their bid to exhibit in Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne’s Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennial.

The revolving selection of pieces displayed in the Lightbox demonstrate some of the techniques, tools and prototype workings of pieces before they are complete.

Pieces reflecting themes by each of the four individual members of State of Flux Workshop will be on display, alongside slow motion video documentation, giving a closer look at processes behind how things are made.

Follow the pink rope to find State of Flux Workshop.

Works by Emma Bugg. Brass, concrete.
Works by Jane Hodgetts. Sand cast, brass.
Works by Gabbee Stolp. Handmade ear hook.

Why did we start building things so symmetrical?

An installation by Georgie Vozar

Baron landscapes, the harsh undulating lines of new rock formations. Holding space. Moulded and re-purposed. The kind that hold up, fill up, and trip up. Do you see? Why did we start building things so symmetrical? Now feel the nature of the earth: what lies beneath its surface? Can you see the reddish-metallic copper? Like the metamorphic hole it was taken from, it will never rust.

Salamanca Art Centre’s most intimate venue, encountered even before passing through the front doors.

Commanding the best public location in Salamanca Place, the Lightbox is a square metre of window space available to selected artists to install works that utilise the attributes of this special exhibition space. This gallery is part of Salamanca Arts Centre’s subsidised Access Galleries Program and is available to Salamanca Arts Centre’s Associate Members and Resident Artists.

The Lightbox is a window space located at the main entrance to the Salamanca Arts Centre on Salamanca Place, and can be viewed 24 hours a day.

Salamanca Arts Centre encourages artists to interpret the space with installations that best reflect the Lightbox dimensions and location.


Venue Hire Rates

Exhibitions
FREE per month

The Lightbox is available for FREE for month-long exhibitions for Salamanca Arts Centre Associate Members and Salamanca Arts Centre Resident Artists only.


Applying for the Lightbox : 2025 Calendar

Applications for inclusion in the Lightbox 2025 Calendar (March 2025 – March 2026) have now closed and are being assessed.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application mid May 2024. 


Applying for 2025 & Beyond

Salamanca Arts Centre assesses applications for the Lightbox twice annually.

If you would like to be notified when applications reopen for 2025 or dates become available due to a cancellation, please sign up to our alert list.

A painterly surface with the echoing motif of the bottle.

This work talks directly to Jake Walker’s exhibition Grog, which was held in Kelly’s Garden and which is part of our curated OPEN SKY / Kelly’s Garden Program.


Jake Walker | Genevieve Griffiths

Jake Walker

Jake Walker was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia in 2000. His practice is inextricably linked to the natural and cultural landscapes of New Zealand. Walker admits that as a child he ‘didn’t really know there were too many other kinds of painting’ aside from landscapes. His works are constantly shifting and revisited after some time, with chance and instinct at the core of his working practice. Sometimes this results in works of ‘weightlessness of accident and incident.’ Exploring themes of modernist architecture and abstract perspectives, Walker’s free and loose sense of play embraces material forms. Walker sees paintings as objects, not flat two-dimensional images. This openness to experimental processes has led to a series of works using clay- painterly forms and stoneware frames that lead from one thing, to another.

He is represented by Station (Melbourne)Gallery 9 (Sydney)Hamish McKay Gallery (Wellington NZ)Ivan Anthony (Auckland) and Dutton (NYC).