OPENING NIGHT I SATURDAY 24TH OF OCTOBER 5PM-7PM
VIEWING DATES I 24TH OF OCTOBER TILL THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER 2026
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
What catches your eye on walks through nature? Is it the gnarled trees? The delicate ferns or the fungi growing on logs? Jacquie and Alessia are the experts of distraction on bush walks and the nemeses to any companion who naively thought this would be a quick, twenty minute walk. Think again, sure-footed friend! Slow down, grab a sketch pad, take some photos and come join us in the understorey.
The term "understorey" refers to the layer of vegetation that exists beneath the bushland canopy: a world that is easily overlooked, yet vital to the life above it.
A celebration of the quiet forces of the natural world through painting and ceramic: its beauty and its power, its stillness and its movement, its delicacy and its capacity to endure.
ABOUT JACQUIE GARCIA
Jacquie Garcia is a multidisciplinary artist working across ceramics and painting, creating works that are deeply rooted in both the natural world and her inner emotional landscape. Jacquie draws inspiration from dense bushland, rainforests, and the ever-shifting atmospheres found in nature. Her art is both a response to her surroundings and a reflection of her internal world, shaped by the rhythms, pressures, and joys of her daily life.
As a busy mother, wife, artist, and teacher, Jacquie’s creative practice is in constant dialogue with her life’s many demands. The juggle is real, and her work often becomes a quiet rebellion against chaos, a space where time slows and the intuitive process takes over.
Jacquie channels the spirit of the landscape through an emotional lens capturing not just what she sees, but what she feels. Her brushwork and use of colour express the subtleties of light, the scent of earth, and the sense of presence that time in nature brings. These works are immersive and intuitive, guided by a desire to convey the sensations and shifts that occur both outside in the environment and within her own evolving life.
ABOUT ALESSIA SAKOFF
Alessia Sakoff’s landscapes centre around the unpredictable and uncontrollable forces of nature, the ‘sublime’. Drawing inspiration from frequent nature walks along Newcastle’s coastline and regional NSW, she sketches as she spots small moments of natural beauty.
Using inks, oils, and gouache, she blends abstract techniques with traditional to draw out landscapes from the chaos. The first layers of her paintings are made quickly and instinctively, then are layered with careful detail.