Derryn Tal: Artist Statement & Bio

Derryn Tal attended Sydney College of the Arts, graduating in 1984. Following her graduation, Tal gained success by winning a number of competitions including the Australia Post ‘International Youth Year’ Stamp Competition which was produced in 1985; the Youth Photographic Award Competition in 1984 judged by Max Dupain, and third place in the Youth Art Award judged by Lloyd Rees also in 1984.

Tal has consistently exhibited in her career and was most recently a finalist in the 2012 and 2013 Paddington Art; she was also hung in the 2012 and 2013 Portia Geach Portrait Prize for her portraits of Akira Isogawa & Claudia Chan Shaw. Tal also participated in the 2013 Designer Rugs Art & Rug Exhibition. 2010 New York Agora Gallery Out From Downunder & Beyond - 17 artists selected from Australia & New Zealand.  2009 - Winner of the ‘Premio Ercole D’Este’ award for her contemporary art at the Trevisan International Art Exhibition “Imaginary Journeys”. This was an international exhibition of 80 artists, held in Ferrara, Italy (a Unesco heritage listed city, as it is one of the last True remaining Renaissance cities).

Derryn is represented widely in private collections nationally and internationally.

Denis Clarke: Artist Statement & Bio

Painting for me is a bodily thing. It involves the relationship between one’s self and making contact with the tactile. Why tactile? Because I am touching materials and feeling out my experience of looking at a subject such as landscapes, people and buildings.

Drawing is the whole key. Not drawing for its own sake but drawing to explore ideas for connecting with the world. Finish is irrelevant. These drawings serve the purpose of the painting and illuminate my imagination to the possibilities of new compositions. I am interested in the physicality and directness of drawing which often finds its way into my works on paper as well as my paintings.

My interest is what I would call 'creating a process of informed experiment'. I allow myself to risk and play with media while aligning my senses with the observed. It is the otherness or feel of a subject which provides the impetus to experiment and find new solutions with mark.

For me, working before a subject is deeply complex and a chance to explore visual language. The test is to find graphic statements and abstractions which truthfully parallel perceptions and travel towards a resolved image. Previously Unseen explores my reactions and connection with the urban which has been an important aspect of my painting for many years. It is a reference to my wish to try and see the world anew.

Denis Clarke works across painting and drawing, exploring the relationship between himself, the bodily and the tactile. Interested in creating a process of informed experiment, his paintings extend conversations of subject, texture and paint fluidity that suspend perception and reality. His work layer playful exchanges between drawing and painting processes, finding new solutions with mark-making to explore the subject. Contextualised within the European neo-expressionist movement, Clarke’s colourful gestural works deconstruct improvisation, inviting new and playful languages of representation.  

Clarke completed post-graduate study at St Martins School of Art, London, and received the NSW Travelling Art Scholarship as well as Moya Dyring residency at the Cite International des Arts in Paris. 

Based in Sydney, he has spent periods working and studying in London and Switzerland, teaching at the Camden School of Art and the Hampstead School of Art, exhibiting at Gillian Jason Gallery, Boundary Gallery and James Colman Gallery, Knightsbridge, as well as creating set designs and costumes for the experimental Opera Factory, in Zurich and London. 

Clarke returned to Australia in 1998. 

He has held 17 solo exhibitions since 1975 and has collaborated with several premier arts organisations such as Opera Factory in London and Switzerland, Warwickshire Arts Festival in the UK, and most recently as the artist in residence at Wollombi Valley Arts Council. From 1999 - 2010 Denis was a sessional lecturer at the National Art School and tutor from 2011 ongoing. He also instructs master classes at Charles Sturt University, the University of Southern Queensland, the Mitchell School of Art and the McGregor School.  

Clarke has exhibited in numerous Art Fairs including ‘Line Art, Ghent’, The Brussels Art Fair, The 20th Century British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, and The Islington Art Fair. His work is included in private and public collections including: the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Fitzwilliam College Cambridge and Lloyds of London. 

Clarke has been represented by Stanley Street Gallery since 2014.

Denis Clarke: CV July, 2022 Download

Shaelene Murray: Artist Statement & Bio

Shaelene Murray’s figurative sculptures speak of society, history, experience and nostalgia. By re-contextualizing materials and processes from industry and the domestic sphere, Murray explores archetypes of femininity, and the roles which women play in the context of social and domestic life. 

The long history of women sewing is given great reverence in Murray’s work. By amalgamating industrial materials such as stainless steel, which hold connotations of masculine work, and techniques derived from traditionally feminine crafts such as sewing; the artist positions familiar objects in unfamiliar contexts, evoking notions of the uncanny. For Murray, this material juxtaposition asserts that “strength and fragility can co-exist, [and] that women are stronger and more complex than the labels given to them by society.” In re-contextualising and personifying remnants of the domestic sphere ‘Kin’ constructs a portrait of the complexities of family life and acknowledges both the beneficial and indifferent legacies, of the women who “cut and sew the fabric of our lives.” 

Murray’s practice relies on the synthesis of material and subject matter; choosing “materials and processes for the readings they impart, and the emotional response they trigger.” Each work is born of a single strand of stainless-steel wire; twisted and folded into the desired ply and looped together stitch by stitch; imbuing the metal with a physical tension and memory. The material is then manipulated and hand-stitched, the components neatly sewn into a piece of clothing. Murray equates the slow and intimate nature of her process with mimicking the slow formation of personality. Through personality imbued stitch by stitch into the piece, the minute detail; laughing or crying, the concept of familial complexity is reiterated. 

Murray studied Ceramics at East Sydney Technical College and was awarded a First-Class Honours Degree in Visual Arts from Sydney College of the Arts in 1995. 

Her sculpture has been exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. Solo exhibitions include Kin (Stanley Street Gallery, 2019), A Tracing of Thread (Stanley Street Gallery, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2013), Bouquet (La Trobe Regional Gallery, VIC, 2005, Ironic Inversion (Lions Art Centre, SA, 2005), and Home on the Range, held at the Centre for Contemporary Craft, Customs House in Sydney, NSW 1998. Murray’s sculptural work has also featured in group shows with Stanley Street Gallery including On Point (2017), Salon of Infectious Ideas (2016), Portraits (2015) and Over Your Head (2014); as well as other institutions nationally, including sPIN (Australian National Capital Artist’s Gallery, Canberra, 2015), Pin-a-4 (Australian National Capital Artist’s Gallery, Canberra 2014), It is What it is (Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor 2014) and Soft Sculpture (National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2009). 

Murray’s work continues to generate critical acclaim, selected as a finalist in the Western Sydney University Sculpture Prize in 2018, Deakin Small Sculpture Prize VIC in 2017, Aesthetica Art Prize UK in 2016, the Kennedy Art Prize SA and the Wynne Prize AGNSW in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Her work is held in the collections of East Sydney Technical College, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, and the Barbara and Oscar Feldman Collection, Detroit MI, USA and has been featured in Art and Australia Magazine, Art Almanac, and “Future Now,” an overview of Contemporary Artists from the Aesthetica Art Prize. In 2000, Murray was a guest speaker at the Glass Society of America Conference held at Long Island University, USA. 

Shaelene Murray is represented by Stanley Street Gallery. 

Shaelene Murray: CV January, 2020 Download

Amy Dynan: Artist Statement & Bio

"I use the framework of beauty to explore the relationship between humanity and nature. My large-scale pastel paintings merge photorealism with abstract sensibilities to document moments of sublimity, transition and fragility in nature. The dynamics of light and dark work as a metaphor for the opposing forces in nature and in ourselves, creating landscapes that hover between land and sky, material and ethereal.

For me, drawing is a lens through which the spectrum of our existence is revealed, and a means to marvel at how lucky we are to feel it fully. To this end my work documents nature in flux and celebrates the beauty of what we stand to lose.”  

Amy Dynan is an award-winning artist, renowned for her nuanced balance between conceptual rigour and classical skills.

Amy's paintings are rich in sublime imagery and draw on various periods throughout art history including Impressionism, Surrealism, and Abstraction. For Amy, the question in art is not what is sublime but how do we access it? Her work explores how we encounter sublime moments and the reverence that emerges through relationship with nature. Permeating her work is a love for the Australian landscape—the clarity of light, the boundlessness of sky, and the classic burnt colours of country.

Amy holds a Master of Contemporary Art and Master of Fine Arts from The University of Sydney. Amy has been a finalist in numerous prizes including the Dobell Drawing Prize, Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize, JADA Art Prize and John Leslie Landscape Prize, and has been selected for residencies in France, Norway, Hill End, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Tweed Regional Gallery and Bundanon Trust (William Fletcher Scholarship).

Amy has held three sell out solo exhibitions at Stanley Street Gallery, ‘Water’ (2019), ‘Skytalk’ (2021) and 'Sublime' (2023).

Amy Dynan: CV March, 2025 Download

Robin Lawrence: Artist Statement & Bio

As the day passes into night, there is a vibrancy to indoor subjects, that to those who are attuned: presents an exciting new challenge. In this way, Robin Lawrence offers an inquiry into light and all its variances, most recently within her beloved studio; as it faces east to west. Her fierce understanding of colour and composition in its contrasts and harmonies, envelop the viewer into the world of the artist as it is known to her. In the everyday objects that sit within her the studio, Lawrence sees no limitation. Where there is light, there is endless opportunity to explore the subtle relationships between all things. A challenging yet stimulating practice – to which Lawrence approaches with infinite ardour.   

Robin grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney in Merrylands. She attended Parramatta Girls School up to the Intermediate Certificate (Year 9), she was encouraged in her ability and gained a scholarship to East Sydney Technical which then became the National Art School. She was 15 years old when she started. After the introductory 2 years Robin chose her specialisation, which was painting. She then spent the next 3 years specialising in painting.

After graduating in 1955 Robin taught firstly at Sceggs in Darlinghurst until 1958. The expectation after graduating NAS was to travel to Europe to experience first hand the grand tradition of painting. Robin left Australia and went to England and then finally ended up in Italy, spending 4 years soaking up the sun and all that Italy could give her. Robin left for New Zealand with her husband Arthur Lawrence, who she had met in Italy. Painting was still paramount and quickly established her studio to paint. Robin spent time painting portraits.

In 1965, New York was the next destination for Robin, where she spent 21 years painting and 19 years teaching at the Rudolf Steiner School Manhattan. These were special times for Robin.

“Hard and challenging in every way, but also stimulating and exciting”.

Robin combined teaching with the birth of her son, whilst also consistently maintaining her painting practice.

"My journey, at a certain point, went through a fiercely expressionistic phase and then I realised that my deep personal expression was not enough, you have to go beyond. If you are in it for the long haul, there has to be an awareness of the classical tradition of relationships - for me they provide the foundation and building blocks."

Sydney

Coming back to Sydney in 1986 gave Robin the opportunity for the first time to actually concentrate solely on painting. Portraits were a particular joy, and she gained some exposure with work hung in various exhibitions and the Archibald in 2000.

Robin moved to Glebe 1986 to the house she still lives in, in the Toxteth estate. Robin was awarded an OAM in 2010 for her contribution to the arts.

John Donegan: Artist Statement & Bio

John Donegan was once driven to make photographs by the chaos of his madness.

Now he is driven by a sense of peace, belonging and calmness.

John Donegan was moved as a child to observe the minutiae of suburban life by the writings of Australian authors like David Malouf and George Johnston whose ability to turn a tram journey; a bike ride or a swim into something magical was an inspiration. 

He sold his first photograph to a newspaper aged 14 and still pinches himself everyday that photography provides him with a living 40 years later.

John grew up in suburban Melbourne but his career has taken him to live on three continents, visit 20 countries, and to have lived in three Australian states. He is constantly humbled by the access into people’s lives he is afforded simply by dint of his photography.

John began his professional career as a cadet photographer at The Herald and Weekly Times in Melbourne in 1985 where he was promoted to Sport Photographer of The Herald at the age of 21.

In 1988, John relocated to London where he worked as a stringer for The Evening Standard, Associated Press, The Express, The Sunday Correspondent et al.

John moved to Jerusalem in 1991 on a retainer for The Guardian and stringing for Associated Press covering Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza.

Returning to Australia, John returned to the now-merged Herald Sun as a photographer and took over as Picture Editor in 1996. John won two Walkley Awards for his photography whilst at the Herald Sun.

John joined The Age in 1998 taking over as Picture Editor of The Sunday Age in 1999 and moving to the role of Chief Sport Photographer in 2006.

John moved to Sydney in 2009 for personal reasons, taking on the role of primary carer of his three young children. During this period he served on the Walkley Advisory Board and as a judge and curator for the Head On Photo Festival.

In 2012, John broke new ground as a multimedia reporter for radio station 702 ABC Sydney providing photography and reporting for the station’s website and live reporting on air.

John remains as enthused and energised by photography today as he was on the 19 August 1985 when he walked nervously through the brass and glass doors of The Herald & Weekly Times and, after 35 years as a  photojournalist, he has turned his camera to the native landscapes around the water ways of Yorta Yorta country.

John Donegan: CV October, 2022 Download

Harley Oliver: Artist Statement & Bio

Though best known for his career in television, Harley’s first love was painting. His Great, Great, Great Grandfather was well-known English portrait artist Samuel Massey, who married the sister of his friend and fellow painter JN Rhodes. His Grandfather who, along with Harley inherited the middle name of Rhodes as all first-born sons in his family have done, was also a painter. So it’s hardly surprising that when Harley picked up a brush at the age of eight, he felt a special affinity for the art form.

In the late 1960s Harley went to Wimbledon Art School in London, painting English landscapes in an era of abstract minimalism. Post art school, Harley’s career was in television as an editor at the BBC, then producer and director, making documentaries for National Geographic and the Discovery Channel as well as programs for TV channels in Australia and New Zealand. In between projects he continued to paint, but only recently decided to dedicate the majority of his time to being an artist.

Zorica Purlija: Artist Statement & Bio

Inspired by her maternal lineage and mother-daughter relationships, the photographic practice of Zorica Purlija nurtures the poetic possibility of human attachments. Often exploring the nuances of vulnerability, her works are an intuitive expression of how we forge connection and care.

 

Purlija’s latest body of work focuses on connection to landscape, exploring the subtle clash of feeling in crashing water and the scrubby bushland of the northern coastal area. She builds visceral surface texture through glitch and superimposition, at once an intervention of traditional landscape photography and an encounter with the multiplicity of sensation.

 

Curator Sarah Rose writes, “The Fall reminds us that we must find respite in nature and question reciprocity and co-existence in order to move towards a more sustainable eco-future in which there is the imposition to heal and become symbiotic with nature, or risk falling into the deep end”.

Zorica Purlija (b. Montenegro) is a contemporary visual artist based on Gadigal land. Working predominately in photography, Purlija’s work is based on attachment and care for the primary relationships and landscape she finds herself in. Informed by a background in graphic and digital media, her photographic practice draws on abstraction and collage to forge an ethereal reflective visual language. Recent exhibitions include So, This is Goodbye, The Fall, and Fade Into You.

In 2020 Purlija completed a MFA in Photo Media at UNSW Art and Design. She has been a finalist in the Gosford Art Prize (2023), the National Photographic Portrait Prize (2010, 2009, 2008), HeadOn Portrait Prize (2022), the Ravenswood Women's Art Prize (2020), the Fisher Ghost Art Award (2017), the MAMA Photography Prize (2016), the Winifred Bowness Award (2014), the Ulrick Award (2011) and the Olive Cotton Award (2009). She has exhibited in New York, Zurich and Venice.

Zorica Purlija: CV June, 2025 Download