The Riddoch Arts and Cultural Centre will present two new exhibitions opening to the public on Saturday 5 February 2022. Curious Minds: Women of the South East will present the work of three iconic women of the region, well known for their fiercely independent spirit and enduring art legacy, while Petrichor will showcase video work by early career artist Georgia Button.

Curious Minds: Women of the South East is an exhibition that demonstrates and celebrates the enduring contribution women make to the arts and will feature an extensive selection of works from the Riddoch Collection by iconic local artists including Cathleen Edkins, Iris Frame and Lorry Humphreys.

“Born between 1915 and 1930, these three women not only lived through World War II, but also witnessed the beginnings of the 21st century,” Riddoch Arts and Cultural Centre Team Leader Curatorial Serena Wong said.

“Their lives span an incredible period in Australia, and while they all lived in this region over a similar period, their work reflects their individuality more than their similarities – which is what makes it so interesting to show their work together – all of them were working in the regions, outside of urban centres, determinedly carving their own path.”

“Cathleen Edkins loved to paint en plein air, and her many landscapes and depiction of horses really demonstrate where her heart lay. Iris Frame on the other hand, created wonderful characters and stories that described local natural and social phenomena around her, with a colourful and chaotic energy, while Lorry’s work in the Riddoch Collection is driven by abstraction and use of colour and line in bold ways,” Ms Wong said.

Georgia Button’s Petrichor is named after the word that describes the smell of rain after a period of warm dry weather, drawing on her experience of growing up on a farm in the mid-north region of South Australia.

“Petrichor is immersive, meditative work that reflects on what it means to come from generations of farmers,” Ms Wong said.

“Taking an intimate look at seemingly mundane or everyday scenes, it is a poetic and thoughtful narrative about the ground we stand on and how live and interact with it.”

Georgia Button is a South Australian based multidisciplinary artist, working primarily with video, sound and installation.

“For me, Petrichor serves as a sort of intergenerational self-portrait, and coming from a colonial background, it is inherently an opportunity to examine the way in which Australia’s colonial history has changed and impacted the land,” Georgia said.

Join Georgia and Serena online this Friday 4 February at 6:00pm for a live ‘Artist in Conversation’ streamed via The Riddoch Arts and Cultural Centre Facebook page – www.facebook.com/theriddoch

Image: From Curious Minds: Women of the South East, Iris Frame, True Australian Nature Glorious Kookaburra Laughing in Flowering Red Gum Tree, 2000, synthetic polymer paint on masonite.