Sydney Printmakers exhibition Uncertain Sanctuary is to be opened Saturday 7 March, 2pm by Katherine Roberts, senior Curator, Exhibitions & Collections MAGM
4-15 March 2026
Hours 10am-4pm daily, The Garden Gallery, Royal Botanical Gardens, Entry via Reception Mrs Macquaries Road
UNCERTAIN SANCTUARY’ Contemplation, reflection and protection.
An exhibition of recent works linking the artist’s studio and the making process with gardens and their nurture.
The concept of sanctuary is not just about physical space but also an inner refuge where ideas take root and flourish. Gardens, with their cycles of growth and decay, mirror the creative process itself, where inspiration arises from contemplation and perseverance. Similarly, the studio becomes a sacred ground, a sanctuary where the artist can retreat, reflect, and transform thoughts into tangible forms. This interplay between the natural world and the creative spirit is a testament to the enduring power of solitude and the focus on our artistic adventures.
The artist’s studio parallels Virginia Wolf’s concept of ‘A Room of One’s Own’ and serves as a sanctuary akin to a garden, awaiting to be nurtured with profound thought and creativity. The desire to isolate to concentrate and muse on how to make something that expresses a reality without necessarily being realist in form, is an ongoing imaginative project. Close observation of nature through drawing, photography, printmaking and painting is where the landscape is literally captured and taken back to the studio/sanctuary often to be mulled over and refined or otherwise referred to obliquely with unusual materials, methods and interpretations of the selected environment.
Even if the studio adopts a more industrial and factory-like appearance, such as a print workshop, it frequently includes a reserved and secluded area within its walls or a park or garden nearby, for contemplation and research. The intersecting of print media with the nuances of landscape and our natural world has attracted some key Australian artists such as Janet Laurence, Simryn Gill and Fiona Hall. They all use some form of print media to create their works. From nature printing, projections, sculpture and videos as well as works on paper. Print media allows for the layering, folding and pressing of ideas onto paper and other large-scale materials to create new and imaginative ways to reflect on our natural world.
These exhibited works are by members of the Sydney Printmakers Inc. who have responded to the idea of sanctuary as a space to think, dream and make, and the many and various methods of print-based practise that exists in contemporary art in 2026.
Many print media artists across Australia are members of the Print Council of Australia. The PCA celebrates its 60th year in 2026 as the leading advocate for print media, nationally. There is a strong connection between the Melbourne based PCA and the Sydney Printmakers who have already celebrated their 60thanniversary and have been working collaboratively since the 1960s. This exhibition celebrates the connections between these two organisations and the longevity of both.
Therese Kenyon
