Wonder Wander group profile
Inspired by daily walks, road trips, and moments of stillness, Wonder Wander brings together a vibrant collection of drawings, paintings, ceramics, and prints that reflect a deep curiosity and appreciation for the world we inhabit.
Collectively, the works in Wander Wonder emerge from a contemporary landscape context in which the subject matter responds to the collective issues of climate change, social cohesion, connection, acknowledgement of place, and our responsibility to the environment.
Six artists, drawn together by their habit of looking and engaging with the world around them while expressing wonder at the big and the small.
Barbara McConchie (Kianga)
During her morning and evening walks Barbara McConchie’s eye is drawn to the 'offing': the sea at, or just before, the horizon. The view seems constant, but changes throughout each day. Recreated in pencil and watercolour, the shimmering surfaces and saturated colours of the ‘offing’ reveal constant flux.
Deb Johansen (Tathra)
Deb Johansen presents Ode to a Coastline, a series of over one hundred small painted vignettes of the Far South Coast. Painted en plein air, gestural brushstrokes convey an immediacy, a moment in time. Arranged like words across the page, telling a story of journeys through the landscape, each vista is unique and special.
Julian Laffan (Braidwood)
Julian Laffan's woodblock prints depict towering trees, rolling hills and big skies. Each 'block' of Blackbutt, Australian Cedar, Australian Kauri Pine and Blakely’s Redgum influences the composition, growth lines and the grain of the timber are contained within the final image, just as the carved landscapes will remain forever tattooed into the wood itself.
Natalie Bateman - (Walbunja-Yuin, Dalmeny / Tasmania)
Natalie Bateman’s work connects deeply with Country, ‘seeing’ history through the lens of Brou Lake. Each image captures simultaneous moments: the spirits of the Ancestors, the turning of days, sunrises and sunsets, plants, animals and water. Her work describes the feeling of being on Country, being on the lake, seeing the colours and feeling the place.
Natalie has exhibited previously with the Basil Sellers Exhibition Centre and was the winner of the Eurobodalla Award - Basil Sellers Art Prize 2024 with her artwork Ochre Puddles.
Patsy Hely (ACT)
Patsy Hely’s painted ceramics depict scenes of space and the earth. Shifting between abstraction and representation, the works look up, down and in. Patsy’s works invite contemplation of the vast unknowns and bring us back to earth again to look at the ground beneath our feet.
Waratah Lahy (ACT)
Waratah Lahy’s watercolours demonstrate a wryly playful appreciation for human interactions in both suburban and natural landscapes. Mysterious signs, glimpsed views and scenes observed while wandering all hint to the wonder and beauty that can be found in the everyday and familiar.