Australian Women Artists

• Louise Olsen

  Australian Women ArtistsPodcast ep. 10Louise OlsenA fascinating conversation with Louise Olsen. A successful artist who, like many others before her, was able to combine that with an incredible skill for design. When I say incredible...she co-founded the now iconic global brand, Dinosaur Designs.  We, of course, discussed her beautiful art and her processes and methodologies, her very talented mother’s art, spending two years painting in isolation in 2020 with her father John Olsen in his rural retreat, Dinosaur Designs and her first family exhibition with her artist husband and daughter amongst many other things.   I started to feel like I was getting to know the Olsen family quite well! And I reckon Louise is quite the polymath. She has this ability to connect ideas and concepts from different fields...all with art and design at the core.  And one of the secrets? Take your sketchbook wherever you go. It will leave an impression far greater than any photo. Head to the link in my bio to find the podcast, or go to your favourite podcasting platform and search ‘Australian Women Artists’ ‘To be an artist is to be an explorer’ Louise Olsen (AWA, 2025)  

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• Annika Romeyn

  Australian Women ArtistsPodcast episode 9Annika Romeyn Annika Romeyn is an important figure in contemporary Australian art.  This is in no small part due to her unique approach to depicting the Australian landscape and the innovative techniques she uses. Her work engages with cultural and environmental themes, and it has been described as bridging traditional landscape art and contemporary artistic practices.  More recently she’s been a finalist in the Pro Hart Outback Art Prize, winner of the Mandy Martin Art and Environment Award, winner of the Burnie Print Prize, Winner of the National Works on Paper and the Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize amongst many others. She’s had nearly 20 solo exhibitions and many more group exhibitions.  We talked broadly about her very distinctive and striking works that use one colour to amazing affect...and how her approach to colour has evolved over the years.  One happy accident was discovering a rust stain on a floor of her studio that led to using a rusted steel sheet as a pallet (you’ll see it in the Instagram photos). Her work combines elements of drawing, printmaking and painting and the results are stunning.  Join me for our conversation by heading to the link to the podcast in my bio.   Annika is represented by the fabulous @flinderslanegallery in Melbourne and we are having this conversation in her amazing Canberra studio.  1. Image:RG 2. Guerilla Bay, 2019 watercolour monotype on paper 168x228 3. Endurance 7, 2021 watercolour monotype on paper with watercolour additions 228x168 4. Old Mutawintji Gorge 1, 2023 watercolour monotype on paper 168x228 5. Wana Karnu 2024, rust and ink on paper 240x360 6. The palette (image RG)

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• Petrina Hicks

  Australian Women ArtistsThe podcastEpisode 8Petrina HicksA really enlightening conversation with Petrina Hicks – one of Australia’s most acclaimed and influential contemporary photographers. She initially trained in commercial photography and recounts how this influences her seemingly simple and stylised minimalist aesthetic. Petrina is renowned for her large-scale, hyperreal photographs that explore female identity and challenge traditional representations of women.Her work is characterized by the presentation of beautiful images which, on closer inspection have been described as ‘simultaneously unsettling and surreal’.  She explores themes of powerful women, identity, and animals, tracing the boundaries between humans and animals. He subjects are juxtaposed against simple backgrounds and, as a result, she has a very distinctive style which often draws inspiration from mythology, fairy tales, and historical art imagery. Petrina has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, including a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2019-2020.  Her photographs are held in Australian and international collections. Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation.    She is represented by Michael Reid Galleries head to https://michaelreid.com.au/artist/petrina-hicks/For available works  1.        PH2.        Shenae and Jade, 2005 lightjet print 85.5x803.        Lauren with Fruit 2011 lightjet print 145x1444.        The Unbearable Lightness of Being 2015 pigment print 77x1005.        Shewolf 1 2016 pigment inkjet print 100x1296.        Peach study 2018 pigment inkjet print 100x1007.        Mnemosyne II 2024 archival pigment print 90x1208.        Memento mori I 2024 pigment print on cotton rag 120x90

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• Dr Anne-Louise Willoughby on Nora Heysen

  Australian Women ArtistsThe PodcastEpisode 7Dr Anne-Louise Willoughby on Nora Heysen Nora Heysen was a precocious talent who sold her first work at 16 to Dame Nellie Melba. Encouraged by her father, artist Sir Hans Heysen, Nora had enormous early success. By the time she was 20 her paintings had been purchased by the state galleries of NSW, SA & Qld and held her first solo exhibition at the Royal Sth Aus Society of Arts in 1933. She was 22. She was the 1st woman to win the Archibald and was our 1st woman war artist.  But then...inexplicably, she fell from public view.  In the late 1980s she was ‘rediscovered’ and a retrospective of her work put her, once more, in the spotlight. She lived to witness this and enjoy the accolades she deserved and the reputation that allowed her to move from her father’s enormous shadow.  It was a great conversation with Dr Anne-Louise Willoughby and her book is a revelation. Nora Heysen: A Portrait (freemantlepress.com.au) Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation. Self portrait, 1932 oil on canvas 76.2x61.2 AGNSWSelf portrait, 1934 oil on canvas 43.1x36.3 Nat. Portrait GalleryArchibald Prize Winner, Madame Elink Schuurman, 1938, oil on canvas 87x68Nora Heysen with her Archibald winning portrait, Photo:Tim Clayton/Fairfax mediaPortrait of Nora Heysen at work, 1939 gelatine silver photograph 18.5x14.2 Harold Cazneaux Matron Annie Sage, 1944, oil on canvas 76.6x56.4 Aust War MemorialIntentionally hung together by Art Gallery SA (image: RG). One is by one of Australia’s greatest artists. The other is by…well, I’m going to say another of Australia’s greatest artists. Intentionally hung by AGSA next to each other. Would you know which was Hans and which was Nora? Answer belowInterior The Cedars (image: RG) which hosted Nellie Melba, Laurence Olivier, Edmund Hillary, Anna Pavlov, Marcel Marceau. If the walls could talk!Nora Heysen at 92 in front of Hans Heysen’s Red Gold. Brenton Edwards  Top Hans Heysen Poppies 1907 oil on canvas. Bottom Nora Heysen, Scabious, 1930 oil on canvas 

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• Eliza Gosse

  Australian Women ArtistsThe podcastEpisode 6Eliza GosseEliza Gosse paints quiet suburban scenes focused on post-war and mid-century architecture and design. Her style is influenced not only by her love of nostalgia, but by her studies in architecture. Her flat two-dimensional painting style and muted colour schemes give off a warmth and welcoming (I think). The fact that she rarely paints figures is to allow the viewer to picture themselves in these gorgeous scenes.  But when she does paint figures...they go alright too. Twice chosen as a finalist in the Archibald! Eliza Gosse graduated with a Master of Fine Art from the Nat Art School, Sydney in 2019. Her work has been exhibited in public and private galleries since 2016. Gosse’s work has been selected for numerous awards and prizes including the Archibald Prize (2023, 2022) and Wynne Prize (2020), Paddington Art Prize (2023, 2021) and won the Mosman Alan Gamble Award (2022) and the John Olsen Drawing Prize (2017). In 2024 she was awarded a Bundanon Trust Residency.  It was a great, easy conversation. I’m sure you’ll enjoy her story.  Eliza Gosse is currently practicing in Sydney and represented by Edwina Corlette Gallery (Brisbane) and Olsen Gallery (Sydney) and this conversation took place in her fabulous converted pizza restaurant in Sydney.  To listen to our conversation, head to the link in my bio or search ‘Australian Women Artists’ wherever you find your podcasts.   Paintings1.    Grapefruit, Burnt Toast and Raspberry Jam 2023 acrylic on canvas 132x1222.    Eucalyptus and Gum-nuts Collected From An Afternoon Walk 2023 acrylic on canvas 152x1823.    Ocean Views Can be Glimpsed Beyond 2023 acrylic on canvas 180x1504.    In My Grandmother’s Garden (a preview glimpse from Eliza’s new solo show at Edwina Corlette Gallery opening 9/5/255.    Breakfast at Ours (Archibald finalist) 2023 oil on board 2 panels, 137.5x86.6 and 145.5x97

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