Address: Sidespace Gallery

Opening Event :
Thursday 31 July 2025, 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Exhibition to be opened by Raymond Arnold

Exhibition Dates :
Thursday 31 July – Sunday 10 August 2025
10:00am – 4:00pm daily

An exhibition by two Tasmanian landscape painters, each in the thrall of the natural world. Robyn Harman and Jill Crawford examine changing and challenging ecological conditions, from distant horizons to close and enveloping images of forest floors.

Jill Crawford has created a series of works which communicate her growing interest in an area of bushland that exists along the boundary of the college where she works. Exit the oval, traverse the apron and enter the bush. Stand still for a moment and listen. It’s hard to remember that a shopping centre exists to the west. An ecologist recently opened Jill’s eyes to the importance of this tract of land. She talked of what once was and her vision of what could be again. The forest floor, once blanketed with native flowers such as orchids, chocolate lilies and yellow stars, has changed vastly.

In pursuit of establishing gardens where the grass was soft underfoot and the environment was far less prickly and harsh, land was cleared and alien species introduced. Heavy feet trod, seeds were dropped, and grass clippings smothered all things delicate underneath.  

Jill Crawford examines the diversity of flora that she finds within a small, defined quadrat of the forest floor. The sharp, the spiky, the barbed, scratchy plants to be found there are photographed, drawn and then translated into a series of monochromatic acrylic paintings on canvas. 

Robyn Harman continues her exploration of Tasmania’s wild coastlines and islands, the passage of time, of the exchange between the human and the natural, seascapes and their embodiment of our dreams and stories.

In this exhibition she focuses on the challenging environment endured by ecological systems. Rocky outcrops stand mute and resolute in steadfast solitude, bracing against the storms of surrounding oceans. They are signifiers of isolation but also protection and shelter for many species. The constant movement of wind and water, the gradual erosion of stone, changing climate, all of which test their capacity to resist and survive.

Rocks and islands provide ecological niches, protection from the wind, rain and churning sea. The forest floor, refugia persisting in an urbanised environment, carries its richly biodiverse lineage despite the pressure of invasion.

These are sanctuaries; a haven for a myriad of animals, birds and insects and home to a diverse range of endangered plants.

Opening Event :
Thursday 14 August 2025, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Exhibition Dates :
Wednesday 13 – Monday 18 August 2025
10:30am – 4:30pm daily
*exhibition viewing after 2:00pm on Wednesday 13 August / after completion of install**

Daily Painting in action from 1:00pm (Monday – Friday)

An awe inspired exploration of Tasmania’s mountain wilderness through the poetry of paint, touching on light gilded rock faces and alpine wildflowers tenaciously bejewelling the edges of blue shadowed chasms.

Perhaps ‘I lost my compass’ would be an apt title too.

After many years of ‘getting around to it’ Mel Hills has finally started this series of mountain celebration paintings. 

Come for the ultimate lightweight bushwalk.
Guaranteed no scrub.
Fitness level optional.

Leave your heavy gear behind and prepare to have your breath snatched by awe inspiring mountain vistas, yawning chasms, towering peaks nd scintillating waterfalls. See the mist veils rising- giving glimpses of blue shadowed cliffs, studded with the gems of alpine flowers.

Imagine an icy dip in a mountain tarn while the last light gilds the surrounding peaks in gold and the cold mountain wind whispers through the crags..

With evident inspiration and influence from great Tasmanian landscape photographers such as Dombrovski and Truchannas, Mel composes poetic and breathtaking paintings of our iconic landscapes and details the flora and fauna that help make them so special.

Each painting is meticulously researched and may have a supporting folio of work, enabling a glimpse into the creation process.

The main body of this exhibition is a series of oil paintings on triple primed board and hand framed in timber. All have hanging wires and  D rings attached. Full interpretation information is presented with the artwork and also attached to the rear of the painting. 

The artist will be present for the duration of the exhibition for ridicule, track notes, general chit chat as desired and is likely to be plying a brush for part of each day.

Opening Event :
Wednesday 20 August 2025, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Exhibition Dates :
Wednesday 20 – Monday 25 August 2025
11:00am – 4:00pm daily

Improvised Performances @ 1:00pm daily

Palimpsest-as-Process by Andrea Breen questions the processes of art-making, in the gallery and by showing work that has already been ‘transformed’.

Palimpsest-as-Process will interrogate how we make decisions around discarding or reinventing art & how art practices might celebrate the processes of creativity. Andrea Breen has spent the past twelve months re-inscribing & reimagining extant texts from her oeuvre of previously shown creative work, including paintings, collages, drawings, poetic texts & acoustic compositions. 

The exhibition will include sound installations (in the gallery space and on headphones), and ‘in-gallery’ change processes. Visitors will be invited to offer contributions.

Improvised performances (collaborations and solo) are programmed for 1:00pm each day in the gallery. 

Recordings and art work will be available for sale on request.

Opening Event :
Thursday 5 June 2025, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Exhibition Dates :
Thursday 5 June – Sunday 15 June 2025
10:00am – 4:00pm daily

Come celebrate the talents of queer artists in Lutrawita / Tasmania

Hear Us. See Us. Know our Names. is an art exhibition dedicated to celebrating and showcasing the diverse talents and unique perspectives of gay, lesbian, gender diverse, and trans artists based in Tasmania. This exhibition seeks to highlight the cultural, social, and personal narratives that influence and shape the work of these artists, providing a platform for visibility, dialogue, and appreciation within the wider community.

Opening Event :
Thursday 17 April 2025 @ 5.30pm

Exhibition Dates :
Friday 18 – Sunday 27 April 2025
Daily 10:00am – 4:00pm

Michelle Hiscock, Sue Nettlefold, Julie Williams, Gina Bruce

Four painters, three from Sydney painters and one from Tasmania, connected through their association with the National Art School, and a love of landscape, are coming together to showcase their unique approaches to painting and drawing the world around us.

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Michelle Hiscock trained at the Canberra School of Art (ANU). Her powerfully evocative early landscapes were well received by collectors and critics, and she has continued to develop a pictorial language based on a contemporary interpretation of the classical landscape tradition.

Hiscock has lived in Japan and France and travelled widely sketching in Europe. She has had 15 solo exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, and is regularly a finalist in national competitions such as the Archibald Prize, Portia Geach Memorial Art Award and the Gallipoli Art Prize. She has had survey exhibitions at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery and Rusten House in Queanbeyan.

Sue Nettlefold is a Tasmanian based painter with a particular focus on building creativity in Community. Since her return to Tasmania in 2008 Sue has completed an MFAD in painting at UTAS in 2017 and established the Spring Bay Studio and Gallery on the East Coast in 2011.  

Sue’s recent solo exhibition, ‘Vantage Point’ at Sidespace Gallery in 2022, was followed by an invitation to participate in Paint 2022, Relationships and Limitations, in Launceston and Devonport (Polmeina and Nant Galleries). Sue has exhibited in Sydney and Melbourne over many years before her return to Tasmania in 2008.

Sue was recently awarded ‘Citizen of the Year, 2025’ for her cultural contribution to the East Coast.

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Julie Williams is an Australian painter, printmaker and teacher who divides her time between studios in Sydney and Hill End, NSW.  Julie also exhibited in Paint 22, Relationships and Limitations in both Launceston and Devonport, Tasmania.

Julie has exhibited widely in Sydney, Regional Galleries in NSW and in South-East Asia during her 5 years living in Singapore. Her work is held in both public and private collections.  She has been a finalist in the Paddington Art Prize in Sydney on more than one occasion including their inaugural exhibition.  

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Gina Bruce is a celebrated painter known for her en plein air works and exploration of landscape and figurative compositions. She graduated with Honors from the National Art School after completing a commerce degree at the University of Sydney. Bruce has held nine solo exhibitions at the Robin Gibson Gallery and earned notable awards, including the Waverley Art Prize (2011) and the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award (2002). Residencies, such as at the Denise Hickey Paris studio (2003) and Nokia Asia Pacific Art Award in Bangkok (2002), have contributed to shaping her career.

Opening Event :
Friday 9 May 2025, 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Exhibition Dates :
Friday 2 – Sunday 18 May 2025
Monday – Friday 9:30am – 4:00pm
Saturdays 10:00am – 3:00pm
Sundays 11:00am – 3:00pm

HoCo Now : a showcase of Year 11 and 12 students from Hobart College’s 2024 cohort working in a variety of media.

Every year art students from across the state work hundreds of hours to produce art as part of their coursework, largely unseen except by peers and teachers.

HoCo Now is an annual survey of work from Hobart College, celebrating the depth and breadth of contemporary student practice. Featuring works across a diverse range of media—including painting, sculpture, digital art, photography, and installation—the exhibition highlights personal reflections, social themes, and technical skill of the next generation of artists.

Opening Event :
Friday 4 April 2025, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Exhibition Dates :
Thursday 3 – Monday 14 April 2025
10:00am – 4:00pm Saturday – Wednesday
10:00am – 7:00pm Thursdays & Fridays

A presentation of works by three friends, Mark Buckland, Eo Greensticks and Steve Hargreaves. who have been exhibiting their work together for over a decade.

Artistically their styles and content are individually quite distinct, but somehow together it always seems to work.

Much of Eo’s work is large scale ferro-cement sculpture and bright paintings inspired by people like Joan Miro.

In this exhibition Mark is presenting a single work comprised of 486 works created over the last 35 years titled Check Mate – Experiments in Colour, Space and Time 1990 -2025.

Steve works mainly in oils, ceramics and photographic imagery.

Opening Event :
Thursday 20 March 2025, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Exhibition Dates :
Thursday 20 – Monday 31 March 2025
10:00am – 3:00pm daily

An exhibition of works created as a result of the Struth Ruth! Group Residency at Melaleuca near Bathurst Harbour.  

Presented by the Struth Ruth! Art Group (consisting of graduates and non-graduate artists).

Featured Artists include : Helen Jessup, Trudy Humphries, Jane Broad, Karen Vincent, Janne Mooney, Helen Spaulding, and Susan Kenny.

The exhibition was inspired by a trip to the South West of Tasmania. The paintings are a showcase and a unique representation of our wonderful island.  

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Helen Jessup

Helen Jessup reinvented herself as a painter following retirement from her working life as a TAFE teacher, social worker and academic.  Robin Mary Calvert was her primary art teacher until she commenced a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2013 completing in 2018. Helen joined Struth Ruth! in 2019. She has participated in many group, solo and competition exhibitions since retirement, including a recent residency at Derby. An exhibition displaying works generated from this residency opened in December 2023 and ran over the summer.

Helen paints and shows with several groups regularly, including weekly with local “Struth Ruth!”, Sunny Coasters residential bi annual En Plein Air group based in Orford, Images of Tasmania, an annual group or Art School alumni, and POGO, a  Hobart Based En Plein Air community. She is a member of Huon Art Exhibition Group, Cygnet, showing at the Lovett Gallery.

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Trudy Humphries

Born and raised on the northwest coast of Tasmania, Trudy Humphries has been immersed in the world of art for as long as she can remember. Her creative practice is deeply rooted in the landscapes around her, expressed through watercolour and acrylic painting. While Trudy’s current focus is inspired by nature, her artistic journey has also included installation art, exploring spacial dynamics, materiality, and conceptual narratives.

Trudy’s dedication to art extends beyond her personal practice – she spent approximately a decade teaching in various schools, as well as at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and TAFE, guiding students in their own artistic explorations.

Trudy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1996) and First Class Honours BFA (1999) from UTAS. In 2004, she completed a Master of Fine Arts with a focus on installation art. Furthering her commitment to education, she earned a Bachelor of Teaching in 2008.

Her work is influenced by artists such as Max Angus, Patricia Giles, Roger Murphy, Rosemary Mastnak, and Amanda Hyatt, whose approaches to colour, light, and atmosphere continue to inspire her practice.

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Jane Broad

Jane Broad completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts as a mature age student whilst working as a social worker. She has worked extensively with disadvantaged migrants both in tertiary education and in ESL contexts, and these experiences have informed her work, although she does also enjoy painting landscape and abstract

Jane has had three Solo Exhibitions, including one on Refugee experiences at the Moonah Arts Centre and participated in three group exhibitions. She was also a participant in the ‘Transformation’ mural exhibition.

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Karen Vincent

Karen Vincent has been painting since her first watercolour class with Tasmanian art teacher Terry Gough in the ’90s. Travels around Australia, Europe and in the United States, her second home, have involved mostly Plein Aire excursions with fellow artists and numerous exhibitions featuring natural landscapes.

Since returning to live in Tasmania, on the beautiful South Arm Peninsula, she has been increasingly working with other mediums and particularly enjoys pastel and acrylics. Seldom found in her art studio, Karen prefers the company of fellow artists working together to try to ‘capture’ the unique physical and spiritual qualities of Tasmania in the wild.

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Janne Mooney

Janne Mooney was originally a dental therapist but completed her B Fin Arts as a mature age student (with 3 children) majoring in ceramics. She has been an art teacher however this has been expressed through teaching ESL students at Rosny College and special needs students at St Francis.

Janne decided to learn to paint as a vehicle to work collectively with others as she found ceramics an isolating experience. She also joined Robin Mary Calvert’s group, becoming a founding member of the current group after several years with Robin Mary. Janne has participated in solo and group shows as well as curated many exhibitions for her students over the years  

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Helen Spaulding

Life circumstances, ie born in the 1950’s, female, married young, three children required Helen to express her artistic leanings as a hairdresser running a hairdressing salon, and the requirements of homemaking. On retirement she also commenced classes with Robin Mary Calvert and was a founding member in what has become ”Struth Ruth!”

Helen participated in several annual group exhibitions whilst part of Robin Mary Calvert’s group and has had works hung with the Struth Ruth group at local venues including Meadowbank / Coal valley Winery, Amaze Richmond and the commission at Molly’s Run, Cidery at Richmond.

She has also completed several commissioned works and has sold at the Rotary Art Exhibition at Wrest Point.

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Susan Kenny

Susan Kenny’s interest in art began at school and continued in a very protracted fashion for many years. Marriage, family and moving around the state made it difficult to complete her Fine Arts Degree.

She attended many Adult Ed art classes, painting weekends, and joined a painting group. Her journey certainly was rekindled over the past ten years when she joined Struth Ruth! She paints what pleases her, animals, landscapes, portraits, still life and occasionally abstract. Her painting also includes portraits and some commissioned landscapes, working indoors mostly from photographs she has taken, given our Tasmanian weather. She has been inspired recently to give Plein Air and watercolour a go. Her paintings are well received, participating in a Mural for Mollies Run Cidery, exhibiting at Amaze and Coal Valley Vineyard at Richmond. She paints mostly in Acrylic but as her journey continues she is keen to paint in oils too. That journey never ends.

Exhibition Dates :
Friday 7 – Sunday 16 February 2025
Friday – Sunday 10am – 5pm
Monday – Thursday 10am – 4pm

Opening Event :
5:30pm Thursday 6 February 2025

Photographer, Tom Polacheck’s exhibition highlights Madagascar’s rich maritime heritage, where wooden boats blend influences from Southeast Asian outrigger canoes, Arab dhows, and Western schooners along the island’s 3,000 km coastline.

A photo and video exhibition that celebrates the 1000s of traditional wooden boats that still prevail along Madagascar’s 3000km coast line. Madagascar is the last large coastal region where open-ocean, wooden sailing vessels still predominate. These vessels are critical for sustaining the daily lives of the people living there. They are central for providing food and transport in a region where roads and terrestrial infrastructure hardly exist. While off the coast of Africa, Madagascar retains strong links with the Pacific and SE Asia as its original inhabitants sailed there around 1200 years ago. Since then, it has been at the cross roads of the Atlantic-Indian Ocean trade routes. It has absorbed, combined and maintained the traditions and knowledge from (1) Southeast Asian/Pacific outrigger canoes (2) Arab dhows and (3) the western gaff rigged schooners.In November 2024, five Australian’s undertook a journey of discovery to Madagascar, (including a 2 week cruise in a traditional schooner) to learn about and document its rich maritime history. Presented here is a visual display of some of what they learned and discovered about this diverse range of beautiful vessels and the people that build and sail them.

Launch Gathering :
Friday 14 March 2025, 5:15pm – 7:15pm

Exhibition Dates :
Thursday 13 – Sunday 16 March 2025
10:00am – 6:00pm daily

A walk through half a century of Hobartian Monte John Latham‘s abstract expressionism and ‘worldscape’ paintings.

Monte John Latham’s Walk in the Worldscape exhibition features a selection of striking and vibrant works of oil and acrylic on canvas that explore the interplays between humanity, nature, the metaphysical, mind, journey, and locale. Dreamlike landscapes flow out of and into intricate abstractions expressing serene harmony, dynamism and love through ethereal and evocative colours. 

Largely unknown, Latham is an elusive local underground artist whose prolific journey spans decades of steady and passionate creation, each piece serving as a testament to his unwavering passion for capturing the essence of life and the world around us. Born in the middle of the twentieth century, Latham began painting as a boy. His work blossomed with surrealism, defiance and inquiry during the counterculture currents of the sixties and seventies. 

This exhibition showcases Latham’s most striking works, thoughtfully selected to illustrate the breadth of his artistic journey. It is a rare opportunity to experience the creative evolution of an artist whose vision remains timeless and deeply resonant.

Originals and numbered replica prints will be available for purchase.