Exhibitions Opening at Tuggeranong Arts Centre

Three new exhibitions open at Tuggeranong Arts Centre at 6pm of Friday 7 February 2025.

Please join us and celebrate with the artists at the official opening of:

• Steven Holland: moonsnake
• John Brookes: unconditional
• This is Studio&: Studio& Inclusive Art Program

All exhibitions showing from 7 February – 6 April 2025

moonsnake

Thinking about possible connections between the moon and snakes, Steven Holland brings together a recent series of yellow-snake dream drawings with a selection of his bronze Serpent sculptures that were created over several decades.

Snakes have been revered in many cultures since ancient times. They are symbols of creative energy, healing and celestial time. Snakes often appear as archetypes in dreams. In dream interpretation, a yellow snake can represent transcendence, renewal and positive change.

Steven’s exhibition is designed to coincide with the Chinese New Year, Luna Year of the Snake in 2025.

unconditional

unconditional is a mixed-media examination of loves many forms… joyful, painful, life-affirming, difficult at times, but invariably unconditional. The images explore different nuances of love exploring how – whilst love can bring joy and happiness – it has a deeper, more self-reflective and pensive side: a truly complex emotion. The diversity of exhibition works reflect the multi-faceted qualities of love, in terms of media used as well as subjects – images will use photography, painting, charcoal, digital media, pencil sketching, ink on wood, and 3D installation.

These will show various expressions of love: arguing that we are all different yet united by emotions. Examples include partners (wherever they are on the rainbow), parents and children, an indigenous person for Country, a nurse and patient, an owner for their dog, bittersweet memories of friendships lost etc. The Exhibition seeks to refamiliarize love, reclaiming its depictions in modern media. Too often love is portrayed as sentimental, unrealistically romantic (though there is always room for romance!) or focused on tragedy and heartbreak, to highlight admittedly important social issues.

Love is becoming stifled by current trends equating love with over-dependence or inequality in a society that increasingly promotes independence. Even talk of love can elicit embarrassment and awkwardness. We are losing our awareness of its value and power, and an underlying theme of the Exhibition examines the resulting positives and pitfalls of opening up personal and intimate emotions to public scrutiny. The exhibtion is a statement about the importance of allowing room for genuine feelings of love in an increasingly isolated society that interacts through social media, texts and Instagram. Love is fundamental in making us human, and we need to preserve it whilst embracing new technologies, cultural and identity politics.

This is Studio&

This is Studio&’s debut exhibition as a collaborative, celebrating two years of making together. Works are reflective of the diversity, interests and skills being honoured at Studio&. This exhibition is a wonderful reminder the power art has in personal expression and community building. Studio& demonstrates that art exists in the exchange, process, collaboration, providing access to and noticing in everyday life.

Studio& is an art collaborative, making on Ngunnawal, Ngambri Country. The collaborative meets each week in a supported studio for neurodivergent young adults and have created a diverse community through the binding medium of art. Artists create a wide range of works reflective of their interests and diversity.

The details

What: Exhibitions Opening at Tuggeranong Arts Centre
When:

• Exhibitions official opening: Friday 7 February 2025, 6 pm
• Exhibitions showing: 7 February – 5 April, 2025

Where: Tuggeranong Arts Centre
Cost: Free.

For more information visit Tuggeranong Arts Centre.