| | | | Habitat is an exploration of personal territory using the birds nest as a metaphor to examine the process of construction, shelter and space. Each nest is a combination of strength and fragility, its individual characteristics beautifully rendered in paint or charcoal. Wrest-Smith varies her technique to match the personality of the individual nest, those put together with haste are loosely drawn, while those which were meticulously constructed are built up with precise layers of paint as they would have been made with exacting layers of twigs. What began as construction by one being has now become an expression through the process of construction by another.
| | | | | 1963 | Born Melbourne, Australia | | | | | 1997 | Study tour, London, UK | | 2001 | Drawing workshop, Anatomy School, University of New South Wales, Sydney | | 2003-06 | Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons), Monash University, Melbourne | | 2004 | Study in Prato, Italy, Semester two of Monash University Bachelor of Fine Arts | | 2011 | Study tour of 10 Indigenous Community Art Centres, Central Australia |
Solo Exhibitions | | | 2012 | 'Habitat', Australian Galleries, Melbourne | | 2011 | ‘Habitat’, Light Factory Gallery, Melbourne
| | ‘Habitat’, Without Pier Gallery, Melbourne
| | 2009 | 69 Smith St Gallery, Melbourne
| | 2008 | Mitchelton Gallery, Mitchelton, VIC
| | Red Gallery, Melbourne
| | Benalla Regional Art Gallery, Benalla, VIC
| | 2006 | Fresh gallery, Melbourne
| | RMIT Pit Space Gallery, Bundoora Campus, Melbourne
| | Monash University Runt Space Gallery, Melbourne
| | 2000 | Cato Gallery, The Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
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Group Exhibitions | | | 2011 | ‘The hidden faces of the Archibald Portraits Exhibition’, Media House Gallery, Melbourne
| | Masterworks Contemporary Art Exhibition, Eltham College, Melbourne
| | 2010 | Savage Club, Melbourne
| | Nillumbik Prize, Montsalvat, Melbourne
| | ‘The hidden faces of the Archibald Portraits Exhibition’, Hilton, Melbourne
| | Women’s Exhibition, Kew Gallery, Melbourne
| | 2006 | Monash University Graduate show, Melbourne
| | 2005 | ‘The hidden faces of the Archibald Portraits Exhibition’, Melbourne
| | 2004 | ‘The hidden faces of the Archibald Portraits Exhibition’, Melbourne
| | 2003 | Salon des Refusés, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
| | ‘The hidden faces of the Archibald Portraits Exhibition’, Melbourne
| | Women’s Exhibition, Kew Gallery, Melbourne
| | 2002 | –07 Kew Gallery, regular exhibitor, Melbourne
| | 2001 | –03 Delshan Gallery, regular exhibitor, Melbourne
| | Monash University Group show, Prato, Italy
| | Victorian Labor Party Launch: Portrait of Mr Greg Sword, Archibald Portrait prize entry launched by Hon. Kim Beazley, Hon. Steve Bracks and Hon. Mary Delahunty MLA, Victorian Artists Society, Filmed by ABC Lateline, Melbourne
| | Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, Annual Exhibition, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Melbourne
| | 2000 | Norma Bull Bi-annual Scholarship, The Victorian Artist’s Society, Melbourne
| | 1998 | –03 Artist of the Year Exhibition, The Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
| | Norma Bull Bi-annual Scholarship, The Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
| | AME Bale Traveling Scholarship exhibition, Glen Eira Gallery, Melbourne
| | 1997 | AME Bale Scholarship, oil section, Melbourne
| | 1996 | Norma Bull Bi-annual Scholarship, The Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
| | 1995 | –05 The Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
| | AME Bale Scholarship, oil section, Melbourne
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BibliographyArchives of Australian Artists, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne Australian Artist magazine, January 1997 "First Right of Refusals", The Herald Sun, 22 May 2002, pp51 Nelson, Robert; "Judges Prefer Horrors Over Jewels", The Age, 7 December 2002 Nelson, Robert; "The Archibald Prize', The Age, 22 December 2004 "Sketching for their supper", The Age, 31 January 2005 plant, S; "Our Own Faces", Herald Sun, 31 May 2010 "Portrait of A Lady Who Canvasses" The Age, 16 May 2002, pp3 Awards| 2011 | Masterworks Contemporary Art Exhibition (Winner), Eltham College, Melbourne | | 2011 | Montsalvat Residency, Montsalvat, Melbourne | | 2010 | Savage Club Prize (Winner, Best Work on Paper and Second Prize Overall), Melbourne | | | Nillumbik Prize (Commended), Montsalvat, Melbourne | | 2002 | Artist of the Year, The Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne | | 2001 | Melbourne Society of Woman Painters and Sculptors Annual Exhibition (Honorable Mention, Portrait), Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Melbourne | | 1998 | Gordon Moffat Award, The Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne |
CollectionsDr Ryan, Australia Mr Anstee, Australia Public and Private collections Western General Hospital, Melbourne CommissionsSELECTED PORTRAIT COMMISSIONS | 2009 | Mr John Westmacott, Australia | | 2007 | Dr Andrew Ling, Australia | | 2006 | Mrs Carmel Benjamin AO, Court Network, Australia | | 2005 | Senator Lynne Allison, Federal Democrats Leader, Australia | | 2003 | Mr Brian Hamley AO, Epworth Hospital President, Melbourne | | 2002 | The Honorable Mary Delahunty MLA, Australia | | 2001 | Mr John Anstee, Senior Plastic Surgeon, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne - portrait painted during theatre operation in procedure. Preliminary paintings and drawings conducted on location in the Mercy Private Hospital, Victorian Plastic Surgery Unit, Melbourne | | 2000 | Mr P. McDonald Smith FVAS, Melbourne | | | Mr Greg Sword, National and State ALP President, Australia | | | Professor J. Epstein, commissioned by the Western General Hospital and unveiled by the Minister for Health, John Thwaities, Filmed by Nine Network News, Australia | | | Mr J. Anstee, Australia | | 1998 | Dr Hugh Ryan, Australia | | 1997 | Professor T. Klein, Melbourne University, Melbourne |
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