Her recent show at Flinders Lane Gallery, ‘Bundanon Floor to Sky’, drew on her time spent within the landscape of Bundanon, the gift that artist Arthur Boyd and his wife Yvonne gave to the Australian people. Bundanon is a property of over 1000 hectares on the Shoalhaven river in NSW which offers residencies to artists and writers, an extensive education program and much more.
From her time at Bundanon, Kalabishis has produced an astonishing body of work. Her triptych ‘Bundanon Floor to Sky – You are always a part of me now (after Van Morrison)’, which is over three and a half metres long, immerses the viewer into that lush landscape from the roots of the trees to the sky above. Other works in the series, too, explore the area from the ground all the way up to the troposphere, far above the landscape.
Kalabishis also combines ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, with native Australian plants, taking them out of the domestic setting into the landscape. Bones and shells also form part of the imagery which she creates through a combination of sculpture and digital technology.
Last year she was awarded the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award and has won many other awards including the Rick Amor drawing prize. She has exhibited in 18 solo shows and her work is held in the National Gallery of Australia and many other institutions and private collections.
Kalabishis grew up in Melbourne – her parents were Greek migrants – and this conversation starts with her memories of work experience at the National Gallery of Victoria when she was 16. It was 1985 and the ‘Golden Summers’ exhibition was showing at the gallery. The exhibition was very popular at the time and included works by Australian impressionists of the Heidelberg school including Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts.
Kalabashis talks about her recent exhibition and generously reveals much about her process which takes advantage of 21st century technology.
To hear Maria Stoljar’s conversation with Gina Kalabishis press ‘play’ under the feature photo above.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gCFCuYbiWM