Holly Grace studied 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. Grace has been the recipient for grants from the Australia Council and Arts Victoria that enabled her to create new bodies of work and to participate in three international Mentorships. Two of these mentorships took place in Denmark and initiated the artists affinity with the landscape, leading to explorations into the Australian Bush.
Grace has exhibited in venues such as the Melbourne Art Fair, London Art Fair, Sofa Chicago, and has had numerous solo exhibitions both here in Australia and internationally. Her work is in many collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Australian National Glass Collection, Parliament House Art Collection, Artbank, Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Denmark.
My artwork begins in nature, a traverse into the remote regions of the Australian Highlands. This time alone within the landscape is an invaluable experience, sometimes challenging but immensely inspirational as I learn more about the natural world and about myself. My experiences are documented initially with the camera but further explored with glass as my canvas – becoming both a lens and a personal record of my unique environment.
This exhibition explores themes of loss and discovery, an echo of recent events in the natural environment. As I explore the fringes of our cultural landscape I discover small intersections, junctions where our human and non-human landscapes intertwine. It is this interaction between humanity and nature that I learn the most about myself, my history and the unbalances that exist. By researching the past and the present I seek to create a cultural narrative that maps together humanity and nature, history and natural history. Leading me on a path to finding my place within a country I call home.
As I find myself on blackened trails, lost and unsure of the path ahead. I ask myself how to protect a landscape ancient beyond time? Perhaps if I find my voice, my song, a visual melody filled with light and colour it may listen and sing back to me. But I won’t know until I try, so now I try.
– Holly Grace, 2021
