Re-collect/Re-present

National Exhibition Register

  • Re-present (details)
    Lyndall Phelps Re-present (details) , 2020-24
    Medium
    Embroidery thread
    Dimensions
    Series of 10, Dimensions variable
    Image Credit
    Jaka Adamic

About the exhibition

Re-collect/Re-present is a body of work by artist Lyndall Phelps, examining nineteenth century Australian botany and ornithology, particularly the important role played by women, in an amateur capacity, in the amassing and disseminating of collections. The exhibition highlights the beauty, fragility and vulnerability of Australia’s flora and fauna, with an emphasis on plants and birds from New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.

Re-collect, the botanical element of the exhibition, references the extensive network of collectors who posted plant specimens to Ferdinand von Mueller, for Australia’s first herbarium, the National Herbarium of Victoria, which he established in 1853. The overwhelming majority of collectors were amateurs, with two hundred and twenty-five identified as women, many of whom were early settlers in isolated areas of Australia.

Re-present, the ornithological element of the exhibition, focuses on and examines the contribution of two women, Elizabeth Gould and Rowena Birkett, who both played an active role in producing the rich illustrations that accompanied early ornithological publications. Elizabeth Gould produced 84 artworks for her husband John Gould’s The Birds of Australia. From 1838 - 40 she accompanied her husband to Australia, to assist with the preservation and recording of specimens. Produced in England, The Birds of Australia was the first comprehensive survey of Australian birds. The first Australian produced publication on birds was The Ornithology of Australia, by Silvester Diggles, who also, in 1877 produced Companion to Gould’s Handbook. The coloured plate version credited Diggle’s niece, Rowena Birkett, as the chief colourist.

Re-collect/Re-present is a large-scale installation, comprising multiple elements, including drawings, botanical specimens, hand embroidered textiles and works on paper. Whilst the works capture and respond to the aesthetics of natural history collections and women’s craft in the Victorian era, Re-collect/Re-present is firmly embedded in contemporary practice. Further information about the exhibition please visit: Re-present - https://www.lyndallphelps.com/project/re-present-2024/ Re-collect - https://www.lyndallphelps.com/project/re-collect-2022/

Artists and Curator

Artists

Lyndall Phelps is a visual artist, currently living and working on Bundjalung Country in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. For Phelps, the gathering of large amounts of information, images and objects through intensive research is a core methodology within her practice. So too is the investigation of collections, both historical and contemporary, in archives and museums. Collaboration is another key element; she regularly engages with diverse specialists who are either professionals in their field or enthusiastic amateurs.

Phelps explores an eclectic mix of subjects, which reveal the lost, forgotten, redundant or hidden. History, science, women’s craft and the natural world, especially birds and plants, are recurring themes. She works with diverse media including sculpture, textiles, drawing, collage, photography, ephemera, and multiples, that are combined in visually rich, narrative driven installations which are deliberately playful, often magical, at times surreal. Phelps hopes to invite a sense of wonder; that people viewing her work will be curious and intrigued.

Phelps has exhibited widely throughout Australia and internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include Science of Common Life, National Art Glass Gallery, Wagga Wagga (2024); Re-present, Northern Rivers Community Gallery, Ballina (2024); The Secret Life of Objects, Onespace Gallery, Brisbane (2023); and Re-collect, Grafton Regional Gallery (2022). From 1999-2019, Lyndall lived in the UK and held exhibitions with many regional, national and international organisations including: National Centre for Craft and Design, Lincolnshire (2017); National Trust (2017 & 2010); 17th Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2014); Institute of Physics, London (2013); Milton Keynes Gallery (2009); Canary Wharf, London (2009) and Natural History Museum, London and Tring (2007).

Phelp’s work is held in numerous private and public collections. "By knowingly drawing on the specificities (and occasional eccentricities) of museum systems and display, Phelps’ work creates a space of possibilities and “what ifs”; a place where we hear whispers not declarations, and where the information we receive is a starting point, but not everything. In her own unique way, she is a champion of the unseen and largely unrecognised realm of collecting and collections; encouraging us, through her work, to appreciate the role of objects in our scientific and cultural knowledge and their centrality to the way in which we come to better understand ourselves and our world.” The Secret Life of Objects by Kelly Gellatly, Curator and Writer (2023)

Available Dates and
Exhibition Details

Available dates
01/07/2025 - 31/12/2027
Exhibition size
Between 75-100 sq or running metres
Originating state
NSW
Organised by
Northern Rivers Community Gallery
Price
Contact to discuss
Web Site
http://www.lyndallphelps.com/
Accompanying materials available
Artist Talk, Catalogue/Book, Digital Catalogue, Education Kit, Floor List, Installation Support, Interpretative/Didactic Panels, Labels, Material for Invitations, Media Kit, Media Release, Public Program Opportunities, Public Workshops
Primary contact
Lyndall Phelps
Position
Artist
Organisation
Northern Rivers Community Gallery & Ignite Studios
Phone
0466 717 357
E-mail
phelps.lyndall@gmail.com
Secondary contact
Imbi Davidson
Phone
0427 754 532
E-mail
imbi.davidson@ballina.nsw.gov.au
Acknowledgement
Courtesy of the Artist, Northern Rivers Community Gallery, Grafton Regional Gallery and Lismore Regional Gallery.