East Gippsland Art Gallery will launch three distinct new exhibitions this month, bringing together works that explore landscape, memory, identity and environmental sustainability.
Opening on Friday, September 11, the suite of exhibitions features acclaimed artist Gillian Ellett Banks OAM, visual artist Cecile Michel, and year 10 art students from Bairnsdale’s Nagle College.
Running through to October 17, the collection invites audiences to reflect on the natural environment, human emotion and the long-term impact of modern consumption.
Natural Forms in Landscape — Gillian Ellett Banks OAM
In Natural Forms in Landscape, Gillian Ellett Banks OAM translates her deep emotional responses to the Australian countryside onto canvas.
“Landscape is more than the visual. It evokes all the senses, and as such, my response is to record the emotional impact, then hint at the visual clues,” Banks said.
Her oil paintings distil regional environments into rich color, form, and atmosphere, capturing the heat, stillness and mood of place.
In 2 Minds — Cecile Michel
Presented alongside Banks’ work, Cecile Michel’s In 2 Minds transitions between finely detailed graphite portraits and playful interpretations of everyday objects.
“My work is centred around graphite pencil drawings of portraits and people in their most symbolic environment,” Michel said.
Her black-and-white drawings evoke nostalgic photographs and shared memories, inviting viewers to discover deeper emotional stories behind human expressions, paired with whimsical sketches that find humour in daily life.
Denim Diocese — Nagle College year 10 students
The third exhibition, Denim Diocese, takes a speculative leap 50 years into the future following a hypothetical collapse of the global textile industry.
Created by year 10 students from Nagle College, the display presents “found” denim artifacts preserved by future custodians to document fast fashion, overconsumption and environmental decay.
The student project challenges viewers to consider the consequences of pushing planetary resources beyond sustainable limits.
