Jack’s art practice has been heavily influenced by 90’s and early 2000’s pop-culture. Japanese animation, video games and cartoons fueled his imagination as a child and developed into an impulse to channel that inspiration into visual artistic expression. As Jack matured he became more interested in the culture and history that inspired the creation of his childhood obsessions. Japanese Ukiyo-e painting and Ero Guro strongly influence the style of his work.

Science fiction and fantasy are the main influence of the themes presented in Jack’s art practice, such as transformation, mortality, the uncanny and finding the beauty in the unnatural. Ghost stories and myths form the basis for the conceptual side of Jacks work; the characters depicted are based on various legends from Japanese folklore. Jack attempts to realize scenes of bizarre and strange happenings unfolding in mundane settings, with some familiar elements from popular culture for good measure.

From Tyabb Victoria, Jordyn strives to create intricate pieces of art fusing old Scandinavian/Norse and 18th century anatomical and botanical styles with modern day techniques such as watercolour.
Self taught and with no formal training she strives to achieve the unachievable and reach new heights in her artwork.
Using dot working techniques, knot work designs and blackwork base for her pieces with watercolour, colour pencil and anything she can get her hands on as a medium. She is always willing to try something new and further develop her style whilst being open to any and all inspiration from the natural world and historical art forms.

The ideas present are representative of Norse/Scandinavian knot-work, dot working and black working. It incorporates a modern anatomical aspect. Drawing inspiration from 18th century botanical and anatomical plates and old norse reliefs and artefacts. The images represent the inner workings of an older age mixed in with new age art styles based around nature and the flow of natural things. Using old techniques like dots, lines and blacks to make a piece come together. Colour and metallic is included in some images more toward the anatomical/botanical side of things to bring about a cohesive flow, and add that little pop of colour for a bit of extra life.

Stephanie is a self-taught abstract artist born and raised in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges and now resides in the township of Belgrave with her husband and 2 young boys. Creating and exploring Art has always been in her blood but she only began creating publicly a year ago. Stephanie works primarily with Alcohol and Hi flow acrylic inks but dabbles in resin and other mediums from time to time. Stephanie finds inspiration in her natural surrounds and how it connects with people emotionally as well as the depths of the psychological map of the brain. Stephanie’s style of work is free flowing and vividly subtle with soft edges and gentle colour merges.

Stephanie Anne’s artwork is created using a mixture of alcohol inks, resin and hi flow acrylics. Stephanie draws her inspiration from the immeasurable artistic potential within the colour palettes around her as well as the connection between the mind and nature and how it impacts how we see and feel things.
The fusion of multiple colours and the dynamics between a colour mixes is what inspires Stephanie’s art and is the oxygen to her creative lungs. Though the colour palettes in her work may vary, the connection between our natural environment and the human mind remains its constant theme. Stephanie accolades colour for its powerful symbolism and employs it to communicate

emotion and mood.
Stephanie creates intense personal moments masterfully created by means of free flow and omissions designed to lure the viewer round in circles and through a whimsical space that consumes the viewer and seeks to impart a sense intense thought and emotion. Her work seeks to express the meaning of an emotional experience rather than physical reality.

Tara Denny works with a range of different materials and techniques including, painting, watercolours, sculptures, film, texts, appliqué and embroidery and natural dyeing. This exhibition will demonstrate that a consistent way of thinking,a consistent passion and energy runs throughout her work, whatever her chosen medium. In this exhibition it’s a misconception that the work is concerned with sex: that’s certainly one of her subjects but there are a great deal more , including mental and emotional states, her surroundings, even uncommon ones such as gardening. Tara’s aim is to make art that connects to people in a direct and viscrel way. The embrace inspired by a mother daughter relationship demonstrates this. The eye on the phallic like figure shows the mother is watching over her in a loving way. Tara also uses her other as inspiration in the naturally dyed quilt as she believes she is the strongest woman she knows. Using the text ‘take a long hot bath...better than sex’ is another form of embrace created by the artist. The move to sewing represents the conscious identification with the artists mother. The act of naturally dyeing fabric is a process mother/daughter learnt together. The trips collecting the materials such as the indigo leaves in the Grampians or saving the avocados is a process fondly shared creating togetherness. The text is a humorous approach to the quick fix on mental health and my mood. I.e-what really is the solution to mental health.

Paul Prato is a self-taught artist and painter based in Melbourne. Since 2014 he has undertaken a number of creative pursuits from writing poetry and short stories to making collages and short films. But it was midway through 2017 that he first started painting on canvas and since then he has created a prolific portfolio of abstract and expressionist paintings.

About his work Paul says,

“I love painting because I am able to experiment and explore colours and shapes. I also love how painting can be both fluid and strong and can also express something so raw and primal in a solely visual way. I stick to the basic primary colours and black and white as they give the composition strength and vivacity. So I naturally connect with the work of other artists who have achieved this: Jackson Pollock, Mondrian and Picasso. I do gain inspiration from basically everywhere. Sometimes I will paint while I am listening to a song or an album that resonates with me and often times parts of the music will find themselves in the painting. I also find a lot of inspiration just from nature, from the trees to the stars; I grew up working on a farm so it was always very close to me. I have also just recently been inspired by mysticism in the form of art, music and literature.

My process for creating a painting is relatively straightforward. I generally start a canvas with a base of either black or white and I use masking tape to create triangles or other simple geometric shapes. I do like using triangles in my composition as they give strength and structure to the chaotic painting and they are simple and familiar shapes that the viewer recognises. I start applying paint in wide strokes and gradually I start using more detail. I consider the painting complete when I am happy with it and I don’t feel like it needs any further work.

While some paintings can be completed within a day, others can take up to several months. I am addicted to the process of painting and I only hope to keep creating so that I can continue to share my passion with people.”

Sophie Lesin is an illustrator predominately working in ink, charcoal and graphite. Her work is inspired by tattoo art, renaissance printmaking and genre imagery. She has exhibited works in both the 2017 and 2018 Small Works Art Prize, and a show with Raw Envision in 2018.
She is interested in exploring the context of historic mythological and religious imagery, and it’s relationship and relevancy with modern audiences. Through mark-making and texture she explores atmospheres from different eras through a contemporary lens.

Inspired by Renaissance era printmakers, Sophie’s developed a series of esoteric playing cards, inspired by tarot and arcane imagery. Utilising spiritual themes and visible mark making they are intended to explore techniques and motifs similar to 16th and 17th Century printmaking. Exploring the esoteric functions in mundane objects, she is aiming to study the role of the occult in a modern society. Over the centuries the occult has undergone a transformation from taboo to aesthetic, but do the traditional functions and meanings remain? By exploring antique symbolism and traditional mythic imagery, Sophie develops pieces that – while exploring the aesthetic values – are still reminiscent of their

history.
Technically speaking, Sophie experiments with mark-making, physical texture of materials and block tone, in an effort to reinforce the atmosphere of different pieces and genres.