Our exhibition is now just days away, and what you’ll see when you enter The Garden Gallery (part of Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens) is a collection of artworks that celebrate the great Australian backyard. Six Sydney-based artists – Kanak Kiran, Vicki Ratcliff, Simone Read, Col Ritchie, Grace Bates and I – have looked at what this familiar space means to us, and in so doing have uncovered layers of nostalgia, memory and connection.
Think about it for a moment, about what ‘out back’ means to you?
Is it that patch of turf behind your home, where you gather with family and friends to enjoy a barbecue, splash about in the pool, play cricket or kick a ball with your dog? Or perhaps (for anyone a bit older) it’s the memory of cooling off under the sprinkler or swinging on Mum’s Hill’s Hoist?
Or is it more rural, and you’re thinking of acreage, with magnificent trees that are perfect for climbing, for building your own private cubby house, or for swinging on an old tyre that hangs from one of the branches?
Out back for you could also be the Aussie bush, full of birdlife and its unique birdsong; or maybe it’s about water, and the sounds you associate with crashing waves or a slow-flowing river or creek.
Perhaps it stretches even further afield, to the Outback, where homesteads and abandoned structures give character to a striking landscape; where lighthouses and churches call out for you to explore?
Whatever you might be thinking about, it’s fair to say that as Aussies we all have a real connection to and love for the spaces that surround us. So come along and see what we’ve created!
Coming up (or on now):
Australian Society of Miniature Art’s Annual Awards Exhibition, Ewart Gallery, Willoughby Arts Centre, 33 Laurel Street, Willoughby (NSW), until Sunday 9 November
MAC yapang Art Prize, MAC yapang, 2A First St, Booragul (NSW), until Sunday 7 December
‘Out Back’ at The Garden Gallery, Sydney Botanic Gardens, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, from Wednesday 12 to Sunday 23 November
‘Summer Art Prize’, Northern Beaches Art Gallery, 5/161 South Creek Rd, Cromer (NSW) from Saturday 22 November to Saturday 20 December
Showcase at the Studio, Julie Peadon Gallery, 71 Lyons Road, Drummoyne (NSW), throughout February 2026
Until next month!