Holly Grace

Geography of Place

Past Exhibition 1-22 Feb 2025

Like many Australians I come from a nowhere place, a stranger everywhere and a child of displacement I am in a constant pursuit of identity and belonging. My family histories are ones of diasporic beginnings, a mass migration and scattering of people from various homelands. Descending from Europeans escaping wars, persecutions, rebellions to find shelter in a new a host land, Australia. My personal history is a mix of cultures, a hybrid blend with a commonality built from geographical location, a sense of nostalgia and dislocation from a country of origin. I am an example of the cultural complexity of being a modern Australian.
The work in this exhibition is the culmination of the past two years and the participation in three artists residencies. the first taking place at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT and Gudgenby ready-cut cottage in the Namadgi National Park. The second at S12 Workshop and Gallery, Bergen, Norway and most recently the Canberra Glassworks, Kingston, ACT. All three residencies were different experiences and focuses, enabling me an unique opportunity to explore themes of self-portraiture, portrait of a place and to further develop my technical skills and understanding of glass as a medium.
The exhibition is both a geographical journey and a personal memoir as I seek to understand what motivates and binds us to places within the landscape. How real are these connections, what are its ramifications and how can I tread lightly in an increasingly fragile environment‘.
Holly Grace, December 2024

Holly Grace’s artworks start with a walk, a solitary traverse into the remote regions of the Australian outback. This time alone in the landscape is an invaluable experience, both challenging and inspirational as she learns more about the natural world and herself. These experiences are documentation initially with the camera and then further explored in glass, becoming both a lens and personal record of this unique environment. Creating a multi-layered glass canvas that is a poetic interpretation of the Australian landscape.

The artist is currently based in Queanbeyan, NSW and creates her large-scale blown glass artworks at the Canberra Glassworks, Kingston, ACT. Grace has a Masters of Fine Art from Monash University has exhibited in venues such as Sydney Contemporary, the Melbourne Art Fair, and the London Art Fair and has had numerous solo exhibitions both here in Australia and internationally. The artist has been collected by various public and private collections, such as the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Artbank and Parliament House Art Collection.

In the past Grace has been the recipient for grants from the Australia Council and ArtsWA which 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 artist’s affinity with the landscape, leading to more recent explorations into the Australian Bush. In the past two years the artist has participated in three Artist in Residence, the first through Craft and Design Canberra, the second at S12 Gallery and Workshop, Bergen, Norway and the most recent at the Canberra Glassworks where she produced the majority of works displayed in this exhibition.

Artworks

Walk Lightly - Gudgenby Valley, 2024

Walk Lightly - Gudgenby Valley, 2024 — SOLD

light installation - blown glass with glass powder and metal leaf surfaces and sandblasted landscape imagery, with internal lighting and metal and timber wall shelf
330 h x 270mm d - glass artwork

>See More
Resonant Landscapes, 2024

Resonant Landscapes, 2024 — SOLD

video & audio installation with blown glass, sandblasted imagery and projector with wall shelf & video footage
330 h x 850 w x 500mm d

>See More
Nursery Hill - Rendezvous Trail, 2024

Nursery Hill - Rendezvous Trail, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with glass powder, metal leaf surfaces & sandblasted landscape imagery - (4 piece installation)
630 h x 680 w x 150mm d

>See More
Tread Lightly - The Fallen I, 2024

Tread Lightly - The Fallen I, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass, hot sculpted with gold lustre surfaces - (15 piece installation)
90 h x 750 w x 600mm d

>See More
Mount Fløyen - Sunset I/II, 2024

Mount Fløyen - Sunset I/II, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with glass powder, metal leaf surfaces & sandblasted landscape imagery
430 h x 350mm d

>See More
Mount Fløyen - Sunset II/II, 2024

Mount Fløyen - Sunset II/II, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with glass powder, metal leaf surfaces & sandblasted imagery
290 h x 360mm d

>See More
SOLD - The Fall (12 piece installation), 2024

SOLD - The Fall (12 piece installation), 2024 — SOLD

blown glass, hot sculpted with glass powder and metal leaf surfaces and sandblasted imagery
720 h x 1200 w x 60mm d

>See More
After the Fall, 2024

After the Fall, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass, hot sculpted with glass powder and metal leaf surfaces and sandblasted imagery - 6 piece plinth or shelf based installation
60 h x 520 w x 310mm d

>See More
Bushfire Sunset - Mount Selwyn I, 2024

Bushfire Sunset - Mount Selwyn I, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with lustre surfaces
260 h x 400mm d

>See More
Bushfire Sunset - Mount Selwyn II, 2024

Bushfire Sunset - Mount Selwyn II, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with lustre surfaces
160 h x 260mm d

>See More
Tread Lightly - The Fallen II, 2024

Tread Lightly - The Fallen II, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass, hot sculpted with gold lustre surfaces - (9 piece installation)
80 h x 450 w x 350mm d

>See More
Transcendent Places - Jungungal Wilderness I, 2024

Transcendent Places - Jungungal Wilderness I, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with lustre surfaces
370 h x 380mm d

>See More
SOLD - Into the Clouds, 2024

SOLD - Into the Clouds, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with glass powder, metal leaf surfaces & sandblasted landscape imagery
410 h x 350mm d

>See More
Tread Lightly - The Fallen III, 2024

Tread Lightly - The Fallen III, 2024

blown glass, hot sculpted with gold lustre surfaces - (16 piece installation)
100 h x 1100 w x 600mm d

>See More
SOLD - Transcendent Places - Jungungal Wilderness II, 2024

SOLD - Transcendent Places - Jungungal Wilderness II, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with lustre surfaces
180 h x 290mm d

>See More
Dawn - Gudgenby Valley, 2024

Dawn - Gudgenby Valley, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with glass powder, metal leaf surfaces & sandblasted imagery
150 h x 250mm d

>See More
Transcendent Places - Jungungal Wilderness III, 2024

Transcendent Places - Jungungal Wilderness III, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with lustre surfaces
180 h x 280mm d

>See More
North Sea - Bergen I/II, 2024

North Sea - Bergen I/II, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with lustre surfaces
140 h x 270mm d

>See More
North Sea - Bergen II/II, 2024

North Sea - Bergen II/II, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass, fire polished with gold lustres & sandblasted landscape imagery
140 h x 270mm d

>See More
Welcome Swallows, 2024

Welcome Swallows, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass, hot sculpted with glass powder and metal leaf surfaces and sandblasted imagery - (2 piece wall installation)
290 h x 250 w x 50mm d

>See More
The Golden Hour - The Namadgi II, 2024

The Golden Hour - The Namadgi II, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with lustre surfaces
130 h x 250mm d

>See More
The Golden Hour - The Namadgi I, 2024

The Golden Hour - The Namadgi I, 2024 — SOLD

blown glass with lustre surfaces
260 h x 400mm d

>See More

Subscribe to Sabbia's Exhibition Mail List