ALFRED LOWE – The Stars are Blind + ANNETTE BLAIR AND KIRSTIE REA – The Poetry of Things
We’re thrilled to be included in Sydney Contemporary 2026.
SABBIA will present two distinct exhibitions: a solo presentation of new large‑scale sculptures by one of Australia’s most exciting ceramic artists, Alfred Lowe, alongside a collaborative series of intimate installations by leading glass artists Annette Blair and Kirstie Rea. Together, these exhibitions highlight the remarkable diversity and innovation within contemporary Australian ceramics and glass.
Winner of the Rigg Prize 2025 at the National Gallery of Victoria and finalist in the Ramsay Art Prize 2025 at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Alfred Lowe has created an ambitious new body of work especially for Sydney Contemporary 2026, following his receipt of the MA Financial Emerging Artist Prize in 2024. The Stars are Blind will feature a central grouping of five bold, colourful, life‑sized ceramic and fibre sculptures, supported by a strong narrative backdrop that reinforces the artist’s sense of playfulness and deep connection to community within his practice.
The Poetry of Things brings together Annette Blair and Kirstie Rea’s distinct glass practices in a collaborative reflection on the quiet beauty found in the everyday. Through still‑life compositions of familiar objects — peaches, tin cans, cloths, brushes — the exhibition draws attention to what is often overlooked, worn‑in, or set aside. Rendered in glass and paired with found elements, these forms hold a compelling tension between fragility and permanence, delicacy and weight. Their slow, intentional, tactile making process becomes a way of noticing and holding space for the poetic potential of domestic and utilitarian forms. This is a quiet celebration of gathering, use, care, and our enduring connections to the objects around us.
