Julia Curtis, Anthea Moffatt & Jill Runciman  |  Dolly

11 May - 19 June 2016

The collective exhibition Dolly looks at dolls – from Babushkas to Barbies and beyond – and their ever-changing uses and representations in our culture. Dolls have been featured since the beginning of civilisations, and they possess a timeless quality to sooth and entertain us whilst reflecting our values and traditions.

Dolls are seen as treasures, gifts, fertility objects, protectors, magical devices and tools for education and play. Dolls are loved and cherished, passed between generations, and sometimes abandoned once their novelty has worn off.

Through a variety of styles and media, this exhibition demonstrates how versatile the theme of ‘doll’ can be and what it means to each individual artist.

Anthea Moffatt's art practice spans roughly 60 years. Trained as a painter at East Sydney Technical Collage she has held over 20 solo exhibitions of her work in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and regional centres. Anthea's recent venture into doll making began as gifts for her granddaughters and has progressed to the dolls becoming works of art to be hung on the wall.

Jill Runciman is a photographer and mixed media artist originally from the USA. After years as a commercial photographer, Jill has returned to her conceptual roots by exploring memory and the banal, using an array of everyday materials such as recycled fabrics, found photographs, and common craft supplies.

Julia Curtis is an artist who originates from the Northern Rivers and has returned to live after living in various places on the East coast of Australia. She studied at the Sydney College of Arts and practices artmaking to explore her world. In this exhibition, she is exploring artmaking through painting and mixed media. Julia is focusing on Dolls, as treasures, loved items, and items of fetish and comfort. This is represented through dolls in the form of a worry doll and Babushka dolls. She is particularly interested in the universal meaning and use dolls in every culture on earth to help our fears, storytelling and use them to belay our fears and worries. The work is created on canvas, plywood and board and are all hanging pieces. They are intricate and range from black and white to vivid colours. 

Launch Event: Thursday 12 May 2016  |  5.30pm - 7.30pm