Echo

Magali Gentric ·

CURRENT EXHIBITION

Stockroom Kyneton, gallery one
24 May / 29 June 2025

JARRAD MARTYN
Echo

Strange Attractor, 2024, oil on canvas, 84 x 80 cm

The starting point for this new body of work was the artist’s father’s photo album, which he created during his time working in Antarctica in 1985. As Martyn explored the album, he became intrigued by how the meaning of these photographs and the archive itself evolves over time, evoking new political and environmental associations in the present day.

‘Echo’ marks the introduction of found imagery into this personal archive. Motifs drawn from different contexts and time periods from historical archives, nature magazines and holiday snaps are combined together through digital collage. The resulting narratives take on an uncanny and unresolved quality, continuing to challenge the legacy of our relationship with the landscape.

Martyn’s approach to painting blurs the lines between figuration and abstraction creating a ‘state of flux’ that fosters a more ambiguous sense of place. By resisting precise representation, he encourages the viewer to shift between different modes of thinking and perception, inviting them to make connections and form their own interpretations of the unfolding events and the symbolic meanings embedded within. By leaving these narratives unresolved, Martyn creates space for deeper reflection, expanding the possibilities for interpretation and connection.

Her Majesty's Motel

Magali Gentric ·

CURRENT EXHIBITION

Stockroom Kyneton, gallery two
24 May / 29 June 2025

NIC MALACARI
Her Majesty's Motel

King’s disease (in gout I lust), 2025, oil on timber board, 60 x 50 cm

Intrigued by conspiracy theories and general banality, Nic presents a series of surreal oil paintings that dissect and probe the monoculture of ‘Her Majesty’s Motel’. Influenced by the storytelling of Gareth Liddiard and Tom Robbins, Nic explores various opposing social ideologies and blends their similarities with satirical humour. Nic’s imagery serves as a gentle reminder that all paths inevitably lead to the same drain, and as we are all circling around it together as members of the human race, we might as well smile and be kind to one another.

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On & On & On & On

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom, gallery one
12 April / 18 May 2025

HAYLEY ARJONA
featuring collaborative ceramics by Hayles n Link
On & On & On & On

Suspended Potential, 2023, oil on board, 120 x 120 cm

This exhibition showcases recent paintings and ceramics by Hayley Arjona (Hayles), alongside collaborative ceramics created with Link.

The paintings and sculptures convey emotional, ecstatic, and often uncomfortable narratives, perhaps reflecting the very process of their creation. None of these works were born from specific intention or expectation; each was made impulsively, driven by the desire to explore what might unfold

Continuing her 30-year artistic journey, Hayley explores an intuitive, performative process that amplifies and translates the unconscious and subconscious into tangible forms. Through dialogue with her subjects and embodied transmutations, moving fluidly between paint and clay, she blurs the lines between intention and action, dreams, memories, and reality. In this body of work, the distinction between the origin of an idea and its execution dissolves, creating an infinite narrative. It just goes On & On & On & On …

Hayles and Link have been lifelong creative partners, collaborating on a diverse range of projects, from festival production and set design for film and television to free-range farming. Their artistic focus has recently merged in a shared exploration of clay, where they experiment with raw materials, form, glaze finishes, and firing techniques. This marks their first exhibition of collaborative artworks in a gallery.

Hayles specialises in hand building, while Link focuses on wheel throwing, glaze development, and gas kiln reduction firing. Their process is spontaneous, an evolving dialogue where each responds to the other. Neither assumes a role of expertise; instead, both approach their work with a spirit of creative surrender. The resulting sculptures reflect this dynamic exchange, each piece embodying a unique, intersubjective quality. Additionally, elements from their home, such as rocks excavated by local ant colonies, and shared life stories are embedded within these works.

Later this year, Hayles and Link will embark on a month-long residency at Driving Creek Pottery in Te Ika-a-Māui, Aotearoa, to further explore their collaborative ceramic practice.

The artists wish to acknowledge and pay respects to the Taungurung people, Elders past and present, who are the traditional custodians of the land on which these artworks were created.

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Kitchen Garden

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom Kyneton, gallery two
12 April / 18 May 2025

LAETITIA OLIVIER-GARGANO
Kitchen Garden

Pie Vase, AP, 2025, polyurethane resin, enamel paint, edition of 5 + AP, 4 x 11 x 11 cm

Laetitia Olivier-Gargano presents a new suite of artworks combining hyper-real resin cast sculpture collaged into painterly watercolours alongside a collection of food-inspired ikebana vases.

A love of food and gardening is celebrated in this exhibition. The title being a play on the term for the beautiful and edible potager’s garden, that is often found in country homes, Laetitia quite literally combines the aesthetics of food and plants within her works. Focusing on the textures and colours of the garden to explore the contemplative qualities of cultivating nature. This attention to the meditative beauty of the artists’ garden is contradicted by the juxtaposition of comfort food and everyday objects.

Playing with the combination of the beauty and the reality of the world that surrounds us, Laetitia brings the suburban garden into the home kitchen. Delicate floral arrangements emerge from a tantalisingly realistic meat pie. An egg salad sandwich is flanked by whimsical watercolours of this summer’s harvest. Views through the kitchen window offer a peaceful observation and time for introspection.

Laetitia’s practice is driven by a close survey of food, plants and everyday objects, through surreal sculptural reimagining. By blurring the boundaries of complex yet recognisable forms, her work playfully incites both a sense of wonder and unease. These edible and domestic items speak to deeply personal emotions, memories and associations. Her work often engenders bodily responses from viewers due to its intense familiarity, yet complete absurdity. Our stomach turns, and we want to look away, but curiosity stops us. It is this uncanny sensation and the universality of it that her works make us aware of.

Laetitia currently works from her studio in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. She graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) from Monash University. Her work has been exhibited nationally at institutions such as Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Cement Fondu, Notfair and Firstdraft. Her work has also featured in Broadsheet, Artist Profile and Art + Australia journals. In 2019 Laetitia received the Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship for Emerging Artists, administered by NAVA. She undertook research in Japan, learning how to make their iconic plastic food samples. Laetitia’s practice often involves ‘hyper-surrealistic’ resin cast sculpture, stop-motion animation and works on paper.

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Your Grandma Has an OnlyFans

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom Kyneton, ceramic space
12 April / 18 May 2025

MATTHEW BUTTERWORTH
Your Grandma Has an OnlyFans

Pretty Thing (jug), 2025, reclaimed porcelain, earthenware, porcelain, ceramic stains, glaze, lustre, multiple firings, 16 x 17 x 13 cm

"Your Grandma has an Only Fans"

In his latest exhibition titled “Your Grandma Has an Only Fans,” Mathew Butterworth sought to create new narratives that emerge from existing ones. By utilizing porcelain ware reminiscent of pieces owned by his grandmother, Butterworth aimed to forge a connection with another time and evoke a deeper, more profound feeling. Through the processes of breaking, adding to, and meticulously rebuilding these new vessels, he challenges conventional notions of purpose and offers fresh, thought-provoking meanings that invite viewers to reflect on their own relationships with memory and heritage.

Matt Butterworth is a contemporary Australian artist who celebrates form, colour and texture through the making of his ceramic works: "I am interested in the conflict that arises when a wall is created. My artworks (ceramic) begin with a process. I begin by throwing (on the wheel) a white porcelain vessel. I then challenge/alter this by adding coloured clays, cutting/exposing the internal form, glazing (in different stages) then finally applying and firing gold lustre. I work intuitively, taking the original narrative (one steeped in a rich history) and expose it. I want my works to challenge the very idea of a vessel while remaining faithful to its creation. I want to challenge the boundaries of ceramics and expose the limitations and expectations." Matt Butterworth’s porcelain bowls represent a radicalised interpretation of the traditional ceramic vessel. Perfectly functional golden ceramic bodies are dissected with cuts and tears, and yet they are so resolved and so exquisite. Small in scale, these bowl forms become jewels, glittering in the sun. They tell stories, they are strong, fresh and live in the present. In 2019, Matt was awarded the prestigious Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, and in 2021, he was acquired by Power House Museum, who exhibited his ceramics in 'Clay Dynasty: 50 Years Of Australian Ceramics'.

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Measured

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom Kyneton, gallery one
01 March / 06 April 2025

RHETT D’COSTA
Measured

Ottoman (Bone Black), 2024, acrylic polymer, graphite, watercolour on Fabriano Artistico 640 gsm paper, framed, 76 x 58 cm

Each morning begins with a dog walk through the bushlands in Central Victoria where we live – beautiful Dja Dja Wurrang country. It is a routine we look forward to. There are rhythms to this activity. My dog’s gait changes and adjusts from slow to fast depending on what catches his attention. He is full of anticipation, playfulness, and optimism as to what will be revealed. I adjust my pace trying to stay with him. He sniffs, ears pricked, eyes searching, alert, and open.  I too stay attentive - listening, touching, smelling, looking - breathing in air deeply. There is a fragile, yet resilient rhythm to the flora and fauna in the bush which I am respectful of and which we both are becoming more attuned to, slowly finding our place.

Each day in the studio also has its own rhythms - its own measures - its own distractions and moments of attentiveness. I bring my experiences from my walks, and from the world, into the studio for deliberation. I am learning to navigate a more thoughtful measured approach in my studio practice which allows for objectivity and subjectivity to operate in different ways and at different times.

To measure is to ascertain the size, amount, or degree of something by using an instrument or device marked in standard units. To measure also means to assess the importance, effect, or value of something. Reliability and validity are concepts used to evaluate the quality of research. The consistency of a measure provides reliability. While the accuracy of a measure provides validation. I have come to realize that these concepts are not restricted to evaluating the quality of research, but rather extends out into the world. While the act of measuring operates in much of my daily life including my studio practice, I am conscious to also consider that which might be unreliable and to find other means and forms of validation.

The artwork in this exhibition begins with some form of measurement; ruled lines, grids, triangles, which maintains a structure for me to work with and against. The motifs and colours I employ, reflect long held disparate interests - tropes in abstraction, textiles, daydreaming, cultural memories, travel, migration, and place. Each of the paintings while deeply personal, use familiar forms allowing viewers to find their own entry points into the artwork. In this way we may arrive at points of shared (or divergent) values or meanings (whatever they are) which reflect how we navigate the world we live in.

This exhibition attempts at revealing this wonderful relationship between that which can be measured objectively, quantitatively, and that which occupies more subjective, qualitative spaces. The complex and nuanced decision-making process in the studio relies on trying to ascertain the importance or value of something by working within these parameters to arrive at a body of resolved work.

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Unbound...

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom Kyneton, ceramic space
01 March / 06 April 2025

KRIS COAD
Unbound…

These works form part of an ongoing exploration into the concept of journey, thinking about how we protect and preserve what is important to us. These objects are metaphors for the journey we all undertake. The ritualistic layers of wrapping create a protective space, a place that holds and shields. A void lies within these vessels; what was there has moved on, still forms reflecting what was and contemplation of what is to come. An immeasurable space between two things as they transition into and between one to the other.

Kris Coad is a ceramic artist living and working in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. She has been a practicing artist for over 30 years, dividing her time between her studio and her work as an educator. Kris alternates exhibition work with large and small-scale ceramic commissions, both within Australia and internationally. She also produces a translucent porcelain tableware range for selected retail outlets and custom designs for haute cuisine restaurants.

Kris has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions, including the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Korean Ceramic Biennale, Dianne Tanzer Gallery Melbourne, Manly Museum and Art Gallery Sydney, Woollahra Small Sculpture. Commissions include the Paris Peninsula, the Municipal Offices of the Greater City of Dandenong and the Beson office CBD Melbourne. Her work has been acquired for public and private collections, including Icheon World Ceramic Centre Korea, Mino Ceramic Museum Japan Parliament House Canberra, Shepparton Art Gallery, and Manly Museum & Art Gallery. Kris’s work has been featured in many magazines, journals and custom books, including World Sculpture News, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Vogue Living and Ceramics Art and Perception International.

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microcosm|macrocosm

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom Kyneton, gallery two
01 March / 06 April 2025

microcosm|macrocosm

CARLY FISCHER
JUAN FORD
JAMES GEURTS
DESMOND LAZARO
NICHOLAS MANGAN
MICHAEL VALE
LISA WAUP

NICHOLAS MANGAN
Termite Tomography, 2022, bronze, 35 x 41 x 5 cm

microcosm | macrocosm brings together seven artists whose work explores unique perspectives of our relationship with the universe.

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Fieldwork

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom, gallery one
18 January / 23 February 2025

ANTHEA KEMP
Fieldwork

Fieldwork is a series of new paintings extending Anthea’s interest in conservation efforts for bush and native animals in Victoria and finding visuals withing these places.

Fieldwork deepens Anthea’s exploration of visuals inspired by nature, reflecting her ongoing ambition of learning about and engaging with conservation efforts for bushland and native wildlife. Anthea’s learning of bush conservation alongside her current understanding funnels motif, gesture and form allowing her to resolve these paintings through studies and exploration in oil paint. The process she follows balancing composition, allows decisions to emerge between mark and gesture, colour and form. Through these decisions and explorations, the boundaries shift between representation and abstraction.

This new body of work emerges from a series of exploratory studies by Anthea, created during her collaboration with writer Hugh Leitwell. Through a shared passion for the conservation of bushland and native wildlife, their creative dialogue saw each responding to the other's work—Hugh through poetry and Anthea through painting. Together, they drew inspiration from the insights and efforts surrounding conservation, channelling them into their respective art forms.

Hugh and Anthea have been introduced to diverse conservation efforts operating at various levels. Anthea has witnessed her parents’ dedicated work to regenerate bushland in Northeast Victoria, land previously used for farming after colonization. This restoration has allowed native species, such as the Diuris corymbosa (donkey orchid) and Caladenia, to return once more, becoming recurring motifs in her paintings. Hugh’s poetry reflects his experiences with different conservation projects, including efforts to protect the Golden-rayed Blue Butterfly. This species has inspired Anthea to incorporate its form and delicate linework into her latest series, weaving their shared environmental focus into her art.

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a thing that holds something else

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom Kyneton, gallery two
18 January / 23 February 2025

MADELEINE MINACK
a thing that holds something else

As an interdisciplinary artist primarily working in installation and sculpture, Minack's practice derives from a process of accumulation. Collecting discarded found objects to produce small, intimate sculptures that reflect minute details of normally unnoticed everyday matter.

Remnant: a trace remaining

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom Kyneton, ceramic space
18 January / 23 February 2025

STEPH WALLACE
Remnant: a trace remaining

Born from a fascination with what lies beneath our feet, this body of work presents what is seen and unseen. In a merging of geological phenomenon, historical context and archaeological discovery, Wallace expresses diverse landscapes through the medium of clay.

Created in her Ballarat studio shaken daily by the explosions of contemporary gold mining practices, Wallace uses abstract line and embossed clay surfaces to meld her fragmented sense of place as a migrant. These works fuse imagery of historic gold diggings from her life in the Victorian Goldfields with personal fossil findings from the Jurassic Coast in Yorkshire, UK.

This sense of immersion in the landscape is continued through the artist's use of materials, often foraging site-specific resources directly from the land. Clays are dug directly from the earth to throw on the wheel and invasive weeds and introduced species are burnt to carbonise the surfaces of works.

This richly layered process of creation and modality of working irrevocably connects the work to the landscape itself, and becomes one with the stories told on its surface; its renderings of the visible terrain and imaginings of what is hidden to us inside the earth’s crust. To honour this connection further, Wallace seeks ways to reduce the environmental impact of her practice, using sustainable materials and methodologies where possible.

The making processes of fire and smoke and the resulting violent thermal shock can sometimes result in hairline fractures on even the most meticulously made ceramics. Wallace relishes these imperfections as opportunity for ‘radical repair’ and often pushes the making process intentionally to its limit, enticing and then embracing these aesthetic flaws. Using ancient repair methods and precious metals these invisible fractures become celebrated, with their imperfections adorned with brass and 23k gold.  

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Dystopia

Magali Gentric ·

Stockroom Kyneton, gallery one
08 June / 14 July 2024

GUILLAUME DILLEE
Dystopia (Selected Works)

“The title Dystopia refers to the dreamlike quality of my works, a conceptual world where the relationship between Man and Nature is perpetually at odds. My creations reflect the limits of mankind concerning the expansive biodiversity around him. I delve into this paralleled concept through the exploration of man’s relationship with their natural environment, interpretations of plant organics, and the ambiguous relationship between botanical toxic beauty and danger.

Upon my arrival to Australia ten years ago I was exposed to a whole new world of natural environments and complicated intertwinings between man and nature. The Australian environment was a revelation of a unique palette of colours, light, shapes, biodiversity, flora, fauna, and natural disasters. I found myself intrigued by the contradictory beauty yet ferocity of Australian flora and fauna. This dichotomy became a central theme in my work, prompting me to examine the delicate balance between attraction and danger inherent in the botanical world.

Challenged by climate change more than most places, Australian land and people are frequently confronted with the destructive forces of natural disasters. In this context, I explored the complexities of coexistence between man and nature, focusing on the power dynamics that naturally arise between the two forces. On one side is man, who exploits natural resources, and on the other is nature, which, despite everything, regenerates beyond all expectations.

As a self-taught artist, I view my studio as a laboratory for experimentation between various mediums, techniques, and contrasts to create unusual visual compositions. I draw on what I observe, what I hear and what I feel to create elements that find their place in my creative subconscious. Successive layers of various mediums build upon each other, crafting the desired effect. Enamel or ink are applied in a spontaneous, definitive gesture, like Japanese Shodo (calligraphy technique), embracing the irreversibility of each mark.”

-  Guillaume Dillée, 2024