Wild beauty
Many Paddington shoppers would be familiar with Oxford St’s Utopia Goods, a store dedicated to kaleidoscopic Australian-themed textiles. Now the outlet’s designer and creative director, artist Bruce Slorach, is holding an exhibition of new works at the Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf.
The exhibition, Native Deities, described as 'a brilliant and bold love letter to our leafy city', will be held from Wednesday May 3 to May 28. Of particular focus in Slorach’s vibrant pieces is Australian native flora and fauna.
“There’s something very special about looking into where you come from and what surrounds you,” Slorach says. “It is incredibly easy to take for granted, but when you look at it and put a microscope on it, Australia’s flora and fauna would have to be the most beautiful nature in the world.”
Slorach says his influences range from far and wide — “from east to west, and back again. From Indian Kalamkari (chintz), to William Morris and the wider Arts and Crafts movement, Lucien Henry, Josef Frank, Stan Kelly, Ellis Rowan and Margaret Preston.”
In Native Deities, he will present his latest series of drawings and paintings, alongside a newly developed series of petite tapestries, and three of his acclaimed hand-knotted silk and wool wall hangings, each five months in the making.
The exhibition looks extraordinary.
