FOCUS ON THE ELEMENT OF EARTH
APR 24 - MAY 12, 2025

REQUEST CATALOGUE;

Martyn Thompson,
Sis Cowie,
Sara Birns.

Exhibition

Martyn Thompson, Sis Cowie and Sara Birns; FOCUS ON THE ELEMENT OF EARTH brings together the quiet alchemy of these three practices, each exploring the elemental in their own way. This exhibition quietly interrogates the relationship between material and intention, where the hands of the artist meet the unpredictable forces of creation.

Martyn Thompson, in collaboration with The Canberra Glassworks, pushes glass to unexpected extremes, creating vessels and screens that blur the line between fragility and strength. His work hints at the delicate balance between control and surrender.

Sis Cowie’s oil paintings confront the complexities of the female form through cinematic vignettes of fear and surprise, offering a contemplative look at how emotion is shaped by the body and its surroundings. Her works invite a sense of stillness, yet pulse with an undercurrent of raw energy.

Sara Birns, working for the first time with ceramics, brings her oil pastel portraits to life in clay frames that disrupt the boundary between the surreal and the tangible. Drawing inspiration from the Golem myth, her works suggest a quiet animation, where the viewer’s own emotions breathe life into each piece.

Martyn Thompson, Sis Cowie and Sara Birns; FOCUS ON THE ELEMENT OF EARTH, the material becomes a mediator between intention and transformation, inviting a deeper reflection on the forces that shape both the art and the viewer.