Wynne Prize finalist Juanita McLauchlan to exhibit
Published on 07 February 2025
Wynne Prize finalist Juanita McLauchlan to exhibit at Wangaratta Art Gallery
An exhibition of textiles and printmaking exploring connection to family and culture by artist Juanita McLauchlan opens at Wangaratta Art Gallery this February.
Barra, meaning thread in the Gamilaraay language of McLauchlan’s grandmother’s country in northern New South Wales, presents the two distinct yet complementary aspects of the artist’s practice, printmaking, and textiles, for the first time.
Wangaratta Art Gallery Director, Rachel Arndt says:
We are thrilled to be working with such an exciting artist, whose use of both textiles and printmaking is exquisite and original. Juanita’s works are sublimely beautiful yet deeply moving, rich and resonant. Her storytelling is profound and thought-provoking, asking us to explore our own connections to family and the significance of inheritance and culture.
Working with the recycled woollen blankets that were a staple of Aboriginal families since colonisation, McLauchlan has eco-printed these vintage textiles with the plant life found on Wiradjuri Country / Wagga Wagga, NSW where she has lived for more than 20 years. She adds layers of linen, gold leaf, and ethically sourced brushtail possum fur. All bound with wool or cotton thread to emphasise the continuity of family through generations and into the future. As McLauchlan explains:
The nostalgia rekindled with the use of vintage blankets represents the umbilical cord or continuous loops of heritage which hold families together with red thread stitched twice on every loop like DNA spirals. The larger works represent knowledge - not only knowledge that has been lost but also knowledge which is highly valued. Traditionally people in high regard held knowledge, truth and storytelling and now, more than ever, this is important for all people, acknowledging our history to avoid repeating mistakes and holding close to our hearts the love we have of this country.
Last year Juanita McLauchlan was a finalist in the prestigious Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, a finalist in the Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize, and the winner of the 2024 National Contemporary Jewellery Award through Griffith Regional Art Gallery. She has exhibited at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Parliament of NSW, Mudgee Arts Precinct and Otomys, Melbourne. An upcoming exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales will feature her large scale sculptural jewellery.
Juanita McLauchlan will give an artist talk on her work in Barra on Friday 21 February at 5pm prior to the opening of the exhibition from 5.30pm. All welcome. To book your free ticket to the talk and opening, please visit: www.wangarattaartgallery.com.au
Also opening in Gallery 1, Crystalline by Elizabeth Willing which explores the incongruent yet interconnected elements of sugar and alcohol through textiles, installation, and sculpture.
Barra
15 February - 6 April 2025
Gallery 2, Wangaratta Art Gallery, 56 Ovens Street, Wangaratta.
Gallery hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am - 4pm.
For further information, please contact Gallery Director, Rachel Arndt on r.arndt@wangaratta.vic.gov.au