Chris De Rosa: when the sea calls me home

September 21 - November 10, 2024

Gallery 3

Exhibition launch Sunday September 29 at 2-4pm

Guest Opening Speaker Anna Zagala - Curator Samstag Museum of Art

The shoreline and ocean have informed my life and practice for decades.

On most mornings year-round, I plunge into the ocean and immerse myself into a new and ever-changing watery realm.

Since moving to the coast over twenty years ago I have become more acutely aware of the daily changes to the shoreline and the plethora of organisms and detritus that wash up on it.

In the past few years there have been unusual (to me) ecological occurrences which have made me reflect on the wonder and fragility of these organisms and the threat placed on the oceanic environment. One evening years ago while walking on the shore we were confronted by thousands of dead sea squirts and for the following month the shore was covered with all manner of creatures dying on the sand; It seemed like some kind of warning. More recently there was an extended bloom of jellyfish the like of which I hadn’t ever seen before. These kinds of events hint at Ballardian dystopian futures where our activities and industries have polluted the ecosystem to the point where those organisms may change physically but still survive and possibly threaten us as a species.

For me, the activity of making in the studio is a way of thinking and reflecting on this environment. The making is my way of interrogating this information and trying to let that thinking be imbued in the finished works. This activity is quasi-experimental. I collect objects and information of interest which I reflect upon in the studio and then through a series of ‘experiments’ and periods of play begin to make objects and prints. I see the activity as both my way of dealing with this overload of information and of producing works that may unveil the wondrousness of this oceanic world and the threat placed upon it.

Chris De Rosa will be running a kids workshop. - details coming soon

BIO

Chris De Rosa lives in Kantjinwald / Port Elliot, unceded Ngarrindjeri / Ramindjeri land where, on most days she dives into an aqueous world full of wonder. Her practice examines our conflicted physical and cultural relationship with the natural world through printmaking, installation, film, and sculpture. Exploring and reframing historical collections is a core element of her practice.

She has undertaken a number of research projects at the Natural History Museum, London, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dhorn, Naples, and the Victorian and South Australian Herbariums. She recently exhibited a major body of work in installation form at the Museum of Economic Botany, Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

Chris investigates the relationships between institutions and examines the ways dominant ideologies and public institutions shape our understanding of history, knowledge, and the natural world. She photographs, preserves and documents both terrestrial and aquatic organisms that inhabit the coastline and creates mementos of elements of the natural world that are often overlooked or unseen.

In 2024 Australian Print Workshop invited her to undertake a residency as part of their Collaborative Print  Project .

De Rosa’s work is held in private and public collections nationwide, including the National Gallery of Australia, Print Council of Australia, Australian Print Workshop, Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery.

The Exquisite Familiar

September 21 - November 10

Exhibition launch Sunday September 29 at 2-4pm

Guest Opening Speaker Anna Zagala - Curator Samstag Museum of Art

We welcome you to experience the exciting collaborative art project by Access2Arts, The Exquisite Familiar, created in partnership with the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), MOD. Museum and most recently, with SALT Festival.

Over two iterations of the project, eighteen disabled visual artists (either emerging or established) from across South Australia (including a regional group from the Eyre Peninsula) participated in creative drawing and digitally artistic workshops. These were followed by exhibitions of the finished artworks at the Art Gallery of South Australia and MOD. Museum, and the Eyre Peninsula group’s artworks displayed in Port Lincoln at SALT Festival.

 In this interactive, immersive, multi-art form project, the groups of disabled artists of varying ages, artistic genres, and skills, brought their ‘Exquisite Familiar’ visions to life and developed their digital capabilities with the support of artistic and technical staff. These artists utilised the historic Exquisite Corpse-style art form to explore and illustrate the barriers associated with disability through the lens of familiars.

Familiars can be found throughout history in folklore and are uncanny creatures who help and protect their owners. In The Exquisite Familiar project, these creatures take on the meaningful and communicative role of metaphors for access and inclusion for people living with a disability.

Check out this digital and interactive exhibition of the artist’s various interchanging creature creations, as you press buttons to change the projected exquisite forms made up of the artist’s various illustrations.

 You can find more information on the Access2Arts website here.

Artists

Bundy Bannerman

Dan Withey

Jenny Georgi

Johanna Roberts (Tutti Arts visual artist)

Josh Maloney (Tutti Arts visual artist)

Lea Leach

Lyn Treloar

Maya Wilson

Mia Rana

Michael Tye (Tutti Arts visual artist)

Michele Saint-Yves

Sheila Whittam – MINDSCAPES

September 21 - November 10, 2024

Gallery 2

Exhibition launch Sunday September 29 at 2-4pm

Guest Opening Speaker Anna Zagala - Curator Samstag Museum of Art

I create mindscapes – abstract windows into the state of my mind, the perceptions, imaginations and consciousness.

I begin to see more as I work on these ideas, especially thoughts in the abstract. They might be faint glimmers or strong confronting images. Thoughts come when I least expect it. They may be tangible things, a feeling or something from the past, an influence, a messy or orderly thing, neat or chaotic, or even foreboding.

Usually, I recognise the something of the unconscious on my substrate as I work. I often can just let it flow while I work – deliberately and purposely, extending it further into my work. I am in a liminal space between the mind’s eye and the process of painting using various materials by cultivating this further ; often using collage or monoprints stashed in studio drawers.

As I step back and look into what my creativity is telling me, each move might be connecting to a further idea. Although I sometimes create chaos I know I must work forwards towards order. This influences me as I engage with materials and the elements of abstract design which are fundamental to my compositional aesthetics using layers of mixed materials, oil paints and cold wax medium (the medium helps it dry much more quickly than oil paint alone).

This series reveals who I am, a soul perhaps searching for higher truths. I am most vulnerable at the point of exhibiting as all artists are. Some of the titles of the works are descriptive of the thought patterns of the unconscious mind which seem to flow in and out like a tidal ocean.

Open studio. Visit Sheila in her Hahndorf Studio from 11am-3pm

2/21 Braun Drive, Hahndorf. Close to Hahndorf Academy

October Thursday 3rd Friday 4th Saturday 5th

October Thursday 10th Friday 11th Saturday 12th

November Wednesday 6th Thursday 7th Friday 8th Saturday 9th

Bio

Sheila is an Adelaide Hills artist, originally from Britain and lives and works in Hahndorf. She is confidently experimental and contemporary in her 2 D approach to art making by using mixed media, monotypes, encaustic work and drawing etc.

With a BA including an Honours year at Adelaide Central School of Art (ACSA) Sheila has had 24 solo exhibitions including a SALA Award, 3 arts residencies and a finalist in several arts prizes including the Heysen Prize for Landscape at Hahndorf Academy and the National Contemporary Art Prize in Canberra.

Artist | Sheila Whittam

Come & try: Wheel-thrown pottery

SEPTEMBER 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th 3-5pm at Hahndorf Academy

$70pp

Try your hand at wheel throwing in our lovely pottery studio with our expert potter Guy Ringwood, who will introduce you to the basic techniques using terracotta clay. Enjoy a relaxed, friendly class where you're encouraged to try something new in a small group where you will receive lots of help, guidance, and advice.

Materials and firing provided, your pot will be fired after the workshop and then available for collection. Tea and coffee provided. Wear suitable clothing or bring an apron. Strictly limited to 7 places per class, so be quick!

Come and get your hands dirty and have fun!

Central Desert Paintings

August 1 - September 15, 2024

Gallery 3

These paintings are from the Tineriba Gallery, Hahndorf, Curated by Neriba Gallasch. Tineriba Gallery are collectors of Aboriginal artworks, with over 40 years’ experience as collectors, advisers and valuers of Aboriginal paintings and artefacts.

Kasia Tons

Martha Leaves

SALA Festival

 August 1 - September 15, 2024

‘Staying in one place makes our monsters loom too large. Travelling gives them something to do. When we travel, we take our problems for a walk’ – Ben Okri 

Martha Leaves explores alter egos, friendship, and creativity as a tool for survival through the lens of magic realism. Created in collaboration with friends, memories, places, and a rich archive of masked characters. This is Kasia Töns’ first exhibition of photography. 

This project supported by Country Arts.

 Kasia Tons is represented by MARS gallery.

Heysen Prize Collection

June 1 - July 28, 2024

Hahndorf Academy has a collection of Heysen Prize winners, the prize is a biennial event and commemorates Sir Hans Heysen and connection to the Australian Landscape. The Heysen Prize for Landscape 2024 is open for entries from April 30 - August 30, 2024. For more details visit the prizes on our website.

Andrew Stattman 1999

Erica Calder 2001

Chris White 2002

Pamela Kouwenhoven 2003

Michael Prospischil 2004

Lise Temple 2005   

Jason Cordero 2006        

Kathleen Munn 2007

Che Chorley 2014   

Sera Waters 2016

Daryl Austin 2018

Manyitjanu Lennon 2020

Cara-Ann Simpson 2022

Contemporary ceramics with Guy Ringwood

2 HOUR CLASSES OVER 8 WEEKS

We’re back for the new term! Learn new pottery skills with Guy Ringwood.  This 8 week course with 2 hour classes is suitable for everyone, whether you’re just starting or want to extend your skills.

Beginners can learn the fundamentals of throwing on the pottery wheel, whilst those with experience will have the opportunity to practice and refine their skills with encouragement and guidance. 

Lotte will share her approach to throwing forms for tableware or sculpture, with the focus on altering thrown forms and adding hand built features to your pots. 

Small class size with maximum of 7 participants

All materials and firing for the course are included

Wear clothes that can get a bit dirty!

Join as a member and get 10% discount on workshops

Image courtesy of the artist

Contemporary ceramics with Guy Ringwood

2 hour classes over 8 weeks

Wednesday Evening from May 11 - June 29, 2024 at 5.30pm - 7.30pm

We’re back for the new term! Learn new pottery skills with Guy Ringwood.  This 8 week course with 2 hour classes is suitable for everyone, whether you’re just starting or want to extend your skills.

Beginners can learn the fundamentals of throwing on the pottery wheel, whilst those with experience will have the opportunity to practice and refine their skills with encouragement and guidance. 

Lotte will share her approach to throwing forms for tableware or sculpture, with the focus on altering thrown forms and adding hand built features to your pots. 

Small class size with maximum of 7 participants

All materials and firing for the course are included

Wear clothes that can get a bit dirty!

Join as a member and get 10% discount on workshops

Image courtesy of the artist

Contemporary ceramics with Guy Ringwood

2 hour classes over 8 weeks

Wednesday Evening from May 8 - June 26, 2024 at 5.30pm - 7.30pm

We’re back for the new term! Learn new pottery skills with Guy Ringwood.  This 8 week course with 2 hour classes is suitable for everyone, whether you’re just starting or want to extend your skills.

Beginners can learn the fundamentals of throwing on the pottery wheel, whilst those with experience will have the opportunity to practice and refine their skills with encouragement and guidance. 

Lotte will share her approach to throwing forms for tableware or sculpture, with the focus on altering thrown forms and adding hand built features to your pots. 

Small class size with maximum of 7 participants

All materials and firing for the course are included

Wear clothes that can get a bit dirty!

Join as a member and get 10% discount on workshops

Image courtesy of the artist

A Connected Thread

Curated by Callum Docherty

May 3 – July 28, 2024

Exhibition launch Saturday May 4 at 3-5pm

 Celebrating the History Festival

A Connected Thread is an exhibition honouring textile works from a range of South Australian women artists and makers.

Drawing upon the Museum Collection at the Hahndorf Academy, the exhibition brings together a specially selected collection of works paying homage to significant and expressive textile production, typically handled, developed, and transformed by women throughout history.

A Connected Thread shines a light on the power and timelessness these carefully composed and beloved works behold and continue to reveal.

Alison Mitchell  

‘one wild and precious past’

May 3 - July 28, 2024

Exhibition launch Saturday May 4 at 3-5pm

Guest Opening Speaker Greg Mackie OAM - CEO History Trust of South Australia

Artist Talk with Alison Mitchell

Sunday May 19 at 2pm in Gallery 1

Celebrating South Australia’s History Festival

Alison Mitchell’s exhibition delves into the confluence of heritage, inspired by an enigmatic 14th century Indonesian batik that she chanced upon in an AGSA exhibition last year. The batik depicts a repeat pattern of two figures amidst a fertile tropical setting.

Mitchell responds to her reflections on this batik, drawing an analogy with her own British/Malay-Indonesian heritage – the interwoven threads of lives and cultures entwined and interconnected. The exhibition’s still life paintings are an exploration of the junction of cultures evident in the residual material of a family’s reciprocal gift exchange – pieces embedded with a precious past. The title is taken from a Mary Oliver quote – ‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’  

BIO

Alison Mitchell is a visual artist based near Riverton in regional South Australia.

Self taught, her work responds to the seasonal changes of her environment, underpinned by a timeless tradition of careful observation from life, and informed by her studies in Anthropology, University of Adelaide, BA (Hons).

Artist Talk with Alison Mitchell

Sunday May 19 at 2pm in Gallery 1

Join Alison Mitchell in the gallery with Rachel McElwee, Director of Hahndorf Academy as they talk about Alison’s art practice and her new body of work in her exhibition ‘one wild and precious past.’ Alison Mitchell ‘one wild and precious past’ — Hahndorf Academy

Alison rarely gives artist talks so this is a special event for those interested in the ideas and stories behind her work. This exhibition 'responds to her reflections on a batik, drawing an analogy with her own British/Malay-Indonesian heritage – the interwoven threads of lives and cultures entwined and interconnected.

Free event and no bookings are required.

enjoy a glass of sparkling wine by Bird in Hand or sparkling water.

Will Nolan

Conversations: Selected artworks from 1998 to 2023

April 1 - May 26, 2024

Gallery 3 & 4

Exhibition Launch Saturday April 13 at 3-5pm

Artist Talk Thursday May 9 at 6-7.30pm

This exhibition, on view from 1 April to 26 May 2024 at the Hahndorf Academy presents examples of Will Nolan’s artworks range in date from 1998 to 2023. Composed primarily of large-scale photographs, Darkroom prints, Polaroids and examples of other iterations of his art practise, this exhibition allows an intimate insight into Nolan’s internal conversations with photography and how this interest has been shaped over the last 25 years. WILL NOLAN

BIO: 

Will Nolan is an Australian artist known for his range of Contemporary photographic works. Born in Adelaide/Tarntanya in 1979, the artist is concerned with exploring the limits of photography as a medium. He employs genres traditionally reserved for the classical arts – still life and sculpture – to challenge the canon. He uses collage and installation to explore the potential of photography in a world where images are both ubiquitous and transient.

Nolan studied photography at North Adelaide School of Art, RMIT Melbourne and completed his studies at University of South Australia in 2008. Nolan has

exhibited in a variety of spaces including solo exhibitions at Galerie Pompom (NSW), CACSA (SA), FELT Space (SA) alongside group exhibitions Neoteric (SA), MOP Projects (NSW), Brenda May Gallery (NSW) and Benalla Art Gallery (VIC). Nolan has been short-listed in the Bowness Photography Prize, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award and Olive Cotton Photographic Prize. His artworks have been published in magazines, including Art Monthly in Australia, Esquire in Russia and Kunstbeeld in the Netherlands.

Cristina Metelli

DEEP CONNECTIONS

March 23 - April 28, 2024

Gallery 1

Exhibition Launch Saturday April 13 at 3-5pm

IN CONVERSATION - WITH CRISTINA METELLI & SERA WATERS APRIL 4 AT 6.30-7.30PM

Deep Connections is a new body of work by Cristina Metelli, featuring paintings inspired by the natural landscape.

Cristina is exploring subjects relating to the perception of spirit of place and a sense of belonging, generated through an emotional and sensorial response to nature and the way in which people can be affected by it.

The exhibition features 3 large, fully-abstract paintings, expressing Cristina's subconscious connection to place, and multiple smaller, more representational works, which capture her fascination with plants, such as banksias, gumtrees and ferns, that she encounters while walking.

This work has been made in response to Cristina's walks in the Adelaide Hills, reminding her of happy childhood memories in the hills of northern Italy, and triggering feelings relating to family, belonging and emotional security. It is also about the healing powers of nature - the energy of trees, green fields, fresh air, and sunlight, which can clear our minds and lift our hearts.

BIO

Cristina Metelli is a contemporary artist based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Born in Milan, Italy, Cristina studied at art school as a teenager, before immigrating to Adelaide, where she continued her artistic education, earning a Bachelor Degree in Visual Art (First Class Honours) from Adelaide Central School of Art.

Her art practice, which was originally based on painting and sculpture, has in recent years shifted its focus to abstract paintings inspired by the natural landscape, finding inspiration in the beauty and diversity of nature. Her art delves into the profound connection between human lives and the natural landscape, exploring themes of belonging, spirit of place, and Nature's vulnerability. By merging her passion for natural sciences and psychology, she investigates how people can be positively affected by their interactions with nature.

Walking and spending time in nature, feeling connected to the land and everything in it, gives Cristina her source of inspiration, which she channels into expressive paintings back in her studio. Through an intuitive process and gestural paint applications, she depicts the feelings experienced in the natural landscape, using the material qualities of paint.

Since 2003 she has been regularly exhibiting in art galleries in South Australia and interstate. Amongst other achievements, Cristina's light-projection work 'Within The Landscape' was featured in the 2022 Illuminate Adelaide Festival; she was winner of the AGES Art Prize 2021/22, QLD; she has also been a three-time finalist in the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, South Australian Museum, and three-times finalist in the Heysen Art Prize, Hahndorf Academy, SA.

Claire Ishino

Now and Then: An exhibition of past paintings and present ponderings

March 23 - April 28, 2024

Gallery 2

Exhibition Launch Saturday April 13 at 3-5pm

This exhibition is a selection of works from 2019 – 2024 of Australian native flora. Over a 5-year period Claire captures the trees and plants on daily walks. She takes snapshots of native flora and takes them to the studio and plans methodically with thumbnails and colour roughs using colour pencil to sketch, giving the sense of freedom in the layering and texture and then develops them into compositions to paint. Using mostly gouache as a medium, the matte colour offers the ability to keep the palettes alive from one painting to the next – adding paint and changing hues but never completely starting over; in this way the paintings are all related to one another.

Other mediums in these works include pencil, acrylic, pen, paper collage and Clay Bord. Claire loves the simplicity of working in black and white, the monotone allows her to concentrate on the forms and linework however, colour is her greatest joy and she is always searching to find new and surprising colour combinations.

Claire says “I use Australian native flora in my work to highlight the beauty of our natural environment and this creates a sense of connection to the land and to each other. The repetitive forms of the native leaves and flowers bring calm to our minds, which seeks patterns to help us make sense of the chaos in our busy lives.

The trees that surround me on my walks are much older than I am, and no doubt be here long after I am gone. While I am here, I will keep looking at the colour and light in this world and continue to paint joyful artworks to add to the colour and happiness in your home”.

 CLAIRE ISHINO

 BIO

Claire Ishino studied Jewellery Design and a further year of Graphics at the University of South Australia. After graduating, she worked as a designer and sales consultant in the jewellery industry in Adelaide before travelling to Japan to live. An intended ‘one year in Japan teaching English’, soon extended to eight years and, during that time, she created a range of colourful washi paper and silver jewellery that was exhibited and sold across Japan from Osaka to Tokyo. After becoming a mum, her focus shifted away from jewellery towards 2-dimensional art works and she has continued on this pathway ever since as she loves the ability to introduce so many colours into her designs.

Claire works from her home-studio in Adelaide producing original gouache or acrylic paintings and black and white ink drawings as well as Limited Edition archival reproductions of the original artworks. Her pieces are inspired by Australian natives and other botanic forms, thoughts, emotions and her love of colour, repetition and pattern; she often uses flowers and leaves as visual metaphors to express thoughts and words or to convey messages. Her style is mostly clean and graphic with crisp edges between colours and small details reflective of her background in jewellery. She draws and paints almost every day and strives to create joyful pieces of work that lift your spirits and fill your home and heart with happiness. 

Claire exhibits and sells her work through local shops and galleries and enjoys popping up at design events such as Bowerbird. Her work is licensed to Earth Greetings for application on stationery and greeting cards and her illustrations appear on the 23rd Street Distillery Signature Gin and Jim Barry's Annabelle's Rose labels. Claire's work has also been featured on packaging and products for Dusk Australia, Jacob’s Creek and Jurlique International. She enjoys collaborating with local creatives, Kitty Came Home, to see her work come to life on functional and decorative products.