Holly Grace “ Belonging: a landscape memoir @ Beaver Galleries 25 March“ 11 April 2021

The history of human engagement with the landscape, both before and after European settlement, is a rich source of inspiration for glass artist Holly Grace. Holly sandblasts and etches landscape imagery into the surfaces of her glass forms to reveal subtle tones and shadows within. The addition of gold and metal leaf creates another play on light as the pieces appear to glow from within. Holly's artwork begins with a walk, both real and imagined, as she traverses remote parts of the Australian highlands. The crude, mountain huts built and occupied by early European settlers in these regions form a potent symbol of early colonial encounters with the Australian landscape and are a physical testament to our pioneering past and a people's history. This exhibition is an intimate memoir of places within the Australian highlands and, for Holly, both a portrait of myself and of this increasingly fragile landscape that I yearn to belong to. In reflecting on her connection to land, Holly explores belonging in a country of mixed and transplanted cultures where the landscape can act as a shared binding experience.

Holly Grace completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Curtin University in Perth in 1996, then went on to further study in glass at Monash University in Melbourne, completing her Masters in 2004. During this time, she also worked as studio assistant to renowned glassmakers in Australia, Denmark, Sweden and the UK. In 2010, Holly was a finalist in the Tom Malone Prize at the Art Gallery of Western Australia and received a Pilchuck Glass Scholarship. Her work is in many collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Australian National Glass Collection (Wagga Wagga, NSW), Parliament House, Artbank, Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Glasmuseum (Ebeltoft, Denmark).