Australian Women Artists

The podcast

(I'm afraid the recording starts with a bit of an echo off the gallery walls - but it does settle.)

Episode 13 Emily George on Jane Sutherland

Jane Sutherland (1853–1928) was a pioneering Australian landscape painter and a key figure in the plein-air movement and the Heidelberg School.

She defied Victorian-era gender expectations by pursuing a professional art career, encouraged by her father. She became an instrumental figure in the Heidelberg School despite having to leave the camps as women weren't allowed to stay. So she'd pack everything up every afternoon and head home.

Her male contemporaries (McCubbin, Tom Roberts, Charles Conder) would paint what was considered heroic bush narratives. Jane Sutherland captured beautifully intimate scenes of rural Australian life often capturing women and children and putting them front and centre which was unusual for the time.

It's been said that these quieter scenes challenged the male-dominated nationalistic art of the time. Her works often contained deeper commentary on societal constraints. This perspective was one of the reasons she was a trailblazer.

She faced the dual barriers of gender discrimination and later physical disability, yet maintained her artistic vision throughout.

To discuss Jane Sutherland I was fortunate enough to be talking to Emily George. Emily is an arts professional with experience working as a gallery assistant, art advisor and client liaison. She holds a double Bachelor of Arts majoring in Art History and Film Studies from Sydney University with a focus on women artists and feminist history, and continued her studies achieving a Master of Art Curating from Sydney University shortly after. She has worked at Arthouse Gallery for the past four years.

Images of some of the works we discussed:

1. Obstruction, Box Hill, 1887 oil on canvas, 41.3x31.1cm
2. The mushroom gatherers 1895 oil on canvas 41.8x99.3
3. The mushroom gatherers (detail)
4. Little Gossips, 1888, oil on canvas, 48.5 x 36.0
5. After autumn rains, 1893, oil on canvas 61x112
6. Field naturalists, 1896 ol on canvas 80.9x121.3

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Episode 12 Wendy Sharpe AM

There can be no dispute that Wendy Sharpe is one of Australia’s most acclaimed artists.

She is known for her strong figurative paintings, her use of narrative and a sensuous use of paint. (For my benefit – and maybe others as well - figurative art, according to the Tate Gallery in London, describes any form of modern art that retains strong references to the real world and particularly to the human figure.)

Wendy’s accolades and awards are incredibly impressive: she has won the Sulman Prize, the Archibald Prize, the Portia Geach Memorial Award (twice), the Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize...in fact, she’s been a finalist for the Archibald Prize eight times and the Sulman Prize an astonishing thirteen times.

She has held over 70 solo exhibitions around Australia and internationally. She’s been awarded many international artist residencies including Paris (twice), Egypt, The Arctic, Antarctica (twice), Mexico, China, Ethiopia.

But it’s the breadth of her contributions to the arts and humanity that are just as fascinating for me, we explored those in our conversation.

I joined Wendy in her fabulous Sydney studio for this conversation.

images on instagram:

1. Magda Szubanski, Comedy and Tragedy, 2020 Archibald Finalist oil on linen 182x145

2. Lilikoi Kaos - Circus Oz, 2016 oil on canvas 210x166

3. Self Portrait with Bernard Ollis 2009 oil on canvas 180x200

4. One of the eight 5m long panels for the Annette Kellerman mural for the Cook + Philip Pool in Sydney

5. Wendy Sharpe, Self-portrait as Diana of Erskineville, 1996 Archibald winner oil on canvas 210x172

6. Black Sun - morning to night, 1986 Sulman Prize (joint) winner, oil on canvas

triptych: 138 x 92 cm each

Australian Women Artists

The Podcast

Episode 11 Belynda Henry

Belynda Henry is a very significant figure in contemporary Australian art, renowned particularly for her evocative landscape paintings.

Landscapes are to her a deeply felt experience and that experience is then reflected in her immersive artistic process – sights, sounds and the feel of the environment she’s painting in.

A multiple finalist in prestigious awards such as the Wynne and Archibald Prizes, Belynda has held over 30 solo exhibitions and achieved international acclaim, with her works acquired by collectors worldwide.

In 2019, she was included in Thames & Hudson’s publication, ‘A Painted Landscape’, which featured the works of leading Australian landscape painters such as Elizabeth Cummings, John Olsen and Ann Thompson, in other words, esteemed company.

She’s about to have her 5th exhibition in New York. And we discuss, amongst many other things, the appeal of her Australian landscapes to an international audience.

Head to the link in my bio to listen to our conversation.

Images

1. BH image supplied (@nicholas_samartis)

2. Jilliby Creek, 2025 oil and wax on linen 122x122

3. Golden Wattle, 2025 oil and wax on linen 152x122

4. Eucalyptus No. 3, acrylic and pastel on canvas 215x215

5. Full Moon Shimmer, acrylic and pastel with oil and wax on linen 152x122

6. Louise Olsen, a beautiful summary, 2016 Archibald Prize finalist, acrylic and pastel on polyester canvas 157x116

Australian Women Artists

Podcast ep. 10

Louise Olsen

A fascinating conversation with Louise Olsen.

A successful artist who, like many others before her, was able to combine that with an incredible skill for design. When I say incredible...she co-founded the now iconic global brand, Dinosaur Designs.

We, of course, discussed her beautiful art and her processes and methodologies, her very talented mother’s art, spending two years painting in isolation in 2020 with her father John Olsen in his rural retreat, Dinosaur Designs and her first family exhibition with her artist husband and daughter amongst many other things.

I started to feel like I was getting to know the Olsen family quite well! And I reckon Louise is quite the polymath. She has this ability to connect ideas and concepts from different fields...all with art and design at the core.

And one of the secrets? Take your sketchbook wherever you go. It will leave an impression far greater than any photo.

Head to the link in my bio to find the podcast, or go to your favourite podcasting platform and search ‘Australian Women Artists’

‘To be an artist is to be an explorer’ Louise Olsen (AWA, 2025)

Australian Women Artists

Podcast episode 9

Annika Romeyn

Annika Romeyn is an important figure in contemporary Australian art.

This is in no small part due to her unique approach to depicting the Australian landscape and the innovative techniques she uses. Her work engages with cultural and environmental themes, and it has been described as bridging traditional landscape art and contemporary artistic practices.

More recently she’s been a finalist in the Pro Hart Outback Art Prize, winner of the Mandy Martin Art and Environment Award, winner of the Burnie Print Prize, Winner of the National Works on Paper and the Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize amongst many others. She’s had nearly 20 solo exhibitions and many more group exhibitions.

We talked broadly about her very distinctive and striking works that use one colour to amazing affect...and how her approach to colour has evolved over the years.

One happy accident was discovering a rust stain on a floor of her studio that led to using a rusted steel sheet as a pallet (you’ll see it in the Instagram photos). Her work combines elements of drawing, printmaking and painting and the results are stunning.

Join me for our conversation by heading to the link to the podcast in my bio.

Annika is represented by the fabulous @flinderslanegallery in Melbourne and we are having this conversation in her amazing Canberra studio.

1. Image:RG

2. Guerilla Bay, 2019 watercolour monotype on paper 168x228

3. Endurance 7, 2021 watercolour monotype on paper with watercolour additions 228x168

4. Old Mutawintji Gorge 1, 2023 watercolour monotype on paper 168x228

5. Wana Karnu 2024, rust and ink on paper 240x360

6. The palette (image RG)

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Episode 8

Petrina Hicks

A really enlightening conversation with Petrina Hicks – one of Australia’s most acclaimed and influential contemporary photographers.

She initially trained in commercial photography and recounts how this influences her seemingly simple and stylised minimalist aesthetic.

Petrina is renowned for her large-scale, hyperreal photographs that explore female identity and challenge traditional representations of women.

Her work is characterized by the presentation of beautiful images which, on closer inspection have been described as ‘simultaneously unsettling and surreal’.

She explores themes of powerful women, identity, and animals, tracing the boundaries between humans and animals. He subjects are juxtaposed against simple backgrounds and, as a result, she has a very distinctive style which often draws inspiration from mythology, fairy tales, and historical art imagery.

Petrina has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, including a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2019-2020.

Her photographs are held in Australian and international collections.

Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation.

She is represented by Michael Reid Galleries head to https://michaelreid.com.au/artist/petrina-hicks/

For available works

1. PH

2. Shenae and Jade, 2005 lightjet print 85.5x80

3. Lauren with Fruit 2011 lightjet print 145x144

4. The Unbearable Lightness of Being 2015 pigment print 77x100

5. Shewolf 1 2016 pigment inkjet print 100x129

6. Peach study 2018 pigment inkjet print 100x100

7. Mnemosyne II 2024 archival pigment print 90x120

8. Memento mori I 2024 pigment print on cotton rag 120x90

Australian Women Artists

The Podcast

Episode 7

Dr Anne-Louise Willoughby on Nora Heysen

Nora Heysen was a precocious talent who sold her first work at 16 to Dame Nellie Melba. Encouraged by her father, artist Sir Hans Heysen, Nora had enormous early success.

By the time she was 20 her paintings had been purchased by the state galleries of NSW, SA & Qld and held her first solo exhibition at the Royal Sth Aus Society of Arts in 1933. She was 22.

She was the 1st woman to win the Archibald and was our 1st woman war artist.

But then...inexplicably, she fell from public view.

In the late 1980s she was ‘rediscovered’ and a retrospective of her work put her, once more, in the spotlight. She lived to witness this and enjoy the accolades she deserved and the reputation that allowed her to move from her father’s enormous shadow.

It was a great conversation with Dr Anne-Louise Willoughby and her book is a revelation.

Nora Heysen: A Portrait (freemantlepress.com.au)

Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation.

1. Self portrait, 1932 oil on canvas 76.2x61.2 AGNSW
2. Self portrait, 1934 oil on canvas 43.1x36.3 Nat. Portrait Gallery
3. Archibald Prize Winner, Madame Elink Schuurman, 1938, oil on canvas 87x68
4. Nora Heysen with her Archibald winning portrait, Photo:Tim Clayton/Fairfax media
5. Portrait of Nora Heysen at work, 1939 gelatine silver photograph 18.5x14.2 Harold Cazneaux
6. Matron Annie Sage, 1944, oil on canvas 76.6x56.4 Aust War Memorial
7. Intentionally hung together by Art Gallery SA (image: RG). One is by one of Australia’s greatest artists. The other is by…well, I’m going to say another of Australia’s greatest artists. Intentionally hung by AGSA next to each other. Would you know which was Hans and which was Nora? Answer below
8. Interior The Cedars (image: RG) which hosted Nellie Melba, Laurence Olivier, Edmund Hillary, Anna Pavlov, Marcel Marceau. If the walls could talk!
9. Nora Heysen at 92 in front of Hans Heysen’s Red Gold. Brenton Edwards

Top Hans Heysen Poppies 1907 oil on canvas. Bottom Nora Heysen, Scabious, 1930 oil on canvas

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Episode 6

Eliza Gosse

Eliza Gosse paints quiet suburban scenes focused on post-war and mid-century architecture and design. Her style is influenced not only by her love of nostalgia, but by her studies in architecture. Her flat two-dimensional painting style and muted colour schemes give off a warmth and welcoming (I think). The fact that she rarely paints figures is to allow the viewer to picture themselves in these gorgeous scenes.

But when she does paint figures...they go alright too. Twice chosen as a finalist in the Archibald!

Eliza Gosse graduated with a Master of Fine Art from the Nat Art School, Sydney in 2019. Her work has been exhibited in public and private galleries since 2016. Gosse’s work has been selected for numerous awards and prizes including the Archibald Prize (2023, 2022) and Wynne Prize (2020), Paddington Art Prize (2023, 2021) and won the Mosman Alan Gamble Award (2022) and the John Olsen Drawing Prize (2017). In 2024 she was awarded a Bundanon Trust Residency.

It was a great, easy conversation. I’m sure you’ll enjoy her story.

Eliza Gosse is currently practicing in Sydney and represented by Edwina Corlette Gallery (Brisbane) and Olsen Gallery (Sydney) and this conversation took place in her fabulous converted pizza restaurant in Sydney.

To listen to our conversation, head to the link in my bio or search ‘Australian Women Artists’ wherever you find your podcasts.

Paintings

1. Grapefruit, Burnt Toast and Raspberry Jam 2023 acrylic on canvas 132x122

2. Eucalyptus and Gum-nuts Collected From An Afternoon Walk 2023 acrylic on canvas 152x182

3. Ocean Views Can be Glimpsed Beyond 2023 acrylic on canvas 180x150

4. In My Grandmother’s Garden (a preview glimpse from Eliza’s new solo show at Edwina Corlette Gallery opening 9/5/25

5. Breakfast at Ours (Archibald finalist) 2023 oil on board 2 panels, 137.5x86.6 and 145.5x97