The Holiday Hamper
- Alix Hunter, Alice Laura Palmer, Amy Cuneo, Anh Nguyen, Ash Leslie, David King, Isabelle Chouinard, James Lai, Julianne Ross Allcorn, Lizzie Horne, Peta West, Stacey Mrmacovski, Suzie Riley
The Holiday Hamper is our festive-season showcase — a glittering ensemble of works that celebrate the pleasure of looking. Conceived as an invitation to gift art, live with art, and discover artists you may not yet know, the Hamper gathers pieces that feel intimate in scale yet expansive in spirit. From Brenton Drechsler’s cinematic Bath to Jessie Breakwell’s affectionate portrait Jean Paul, the collection moves through houses, gardens and remembered moments with tenderness and curiosity.
Moving outward into the landscape, the Hamper opens onto rivers, valleys and bushland through James Lai’s Scattered gum trees and pastures in spring, Julianne Ross Allcorn’s sweeping Glimpses of the Valley, Lizzie Horne’s sharply observed Wild Rivers I, and Peta West’s richly textured XI Study – Mallee Gum. Suzie Riley’s Pink Lake and Ash Leslie’s Clear Water hold light in soft, contemplative forms, while Nicci Bedson’s House Number 123 collapses the distance between the domestic and the geographic, reminding us that landscape is often the street just outside our door.
Alongside these works sit finely attuned explorations of still life and interior space: Alix Hunter’s Winter Sun with Glass and Plum, Alice Laura Palmer’s Leucadendron, Isabelle Chouinard’s poised Plums and Absinthe, and Stacey Mrmacovski’s reflective Those Days We Share. Amy Cuneo, Anh Nguyen, Gina Andree and Jennifer Ross each contribute their own interpretations of everyday scenes — tables half-cleared, walls washed with late light, familiar corners made newly luminous. Seen together, the artists of the Holiday Hamper create a considered cabinet of delights: works to gift, to keep, and to fold into daily life.
