Memory Box

‘Memory Box’ explores how we hold onto and protect memories of loved ones, and how those memories are inextricably linked to place. It is my tribute to a place that I love. It draws on the memory of loved ones, and the healing power that I find in being outdoors.

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I feel a deep connection to the Mornington Peninsula. It’s a place I’ve loved sharing with family and friends, and I’ve enjoyed many happy days there with my partner and our beloved greyhound Albert, who especially loved the beach at Rye. In 2023 we lost Albert suddenly to bone cancer. It was a devastating blow. And just a week later, my father passed away unexpectedly. 

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The paintings in this collection were created against that backdrop of love and loss. They reflect the grief, the emptiness, the shift in reality and all the questions that those big life changes bring. It wasn’t a conscious process. And it’s only now at the completion of the work, looking back, that I see the patterns and connections. All those feelings and emotions expressed through the lens and language of a landscape that I love. 

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I am endlessly captivated by the Peninsula’s enormous skies, shifting cloud patterns and distant horizons. I love walking along Rye beach in the early evening, watching the clouds shift in colour as the sun goes down or a storm approaches. I feel a sense of peace and stillness. I’m acutely aware of my own smallness in so much space. The vast expanse of sky is overwhelming. The wind in my face is exhilarating. The unbridled joy of Albert chasing his ball lifts me. The icy splash from an incoming tide grounds me. 

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And I remember.