To the Coast

In Elizabeth Barnett’s new show To the Coast, we are swept away in the rapture of summer. To the Coast continues Barnett’s still life’s responding to seasonal changes, this time seizing the first joyous summer after Victoria’s extensive lockdown. For Barnett, coastal flora was a key inspiration and took on new meaning. The artist was particularly drawn to flowering gums that grow along the Victorian coastline in summer, blooming in resplendent lime greens to electric pinks, celebrating life lived by the seaside. Weathered banksias gnarled by coastal winds stand strong while providing work for busy buzzing bees, a testament to nature’s continuation regardless of residential life standing still. To the Coast captures this coastal flora atop blue and white striped textiles that recall the ebbs and flow of the tides.