'Necklace / Houseplant' by Beci Orpin and Kat Macleod for their joint show, A Hidden Place, opening in Melbourne tonight.

'Hands / Gems & Rocks' by Beci Orpin and Kat Macleod for their joint show opening in Melbourne tonight.

Beci Orpin (left) and Kat Macleod (right) installing their show at Lamington Drive earlier this week.  Photo - Sean Fennessy.

Melbourne is so chock full of amazing illustrators, but I must say I'm pretty excited that two of my personal faves have joined forces this month on a joint exhibition!  The two immensely talented ladies in question are of course Beci Orpin and Kat Macleod - talk about dream team!

A Hidden Place combines both collaborative works and works created separately by each artist. For the collaborative pieces, a theme and key motifs were set for each piece, and once each artist had completed one 'half', they swapped.  As you all probably know, Kat Macleod is known for her fluid painterly and very feminine style, whilst Beci's work is characterised by clean lines, symmetry and geometry.  It's so refreshing to see two such distinctive and different illustrative styles brought together in this way!

Beci and Kat are both prolific well known creatives in their own right, they each run their own small businesses, and they're both busy Mums too!  However, despite having so much in common, incredibly, they say they had never 'properly' met before working together on this show!  It was their agent and mutual friend Jeremy Wortsman, director of The Jacky Winter Group, who encouraged them to join forces for this exhibition.

'I loved collaborating with Beci, it was surprising how easily we worked together considering we hadn't even properly met before working on the show!' says Kat. 'I've been a long time admirer of her work, so I knew it would be a great experiment to try. Working alone on an exhibition can be isolating, so it was fun and exciting to be in it together on this one – sharing references, ideas, decision-making and lots of discussions as we nutted out our processes.'

'For me the paintings we worked on together were definitely the best part of the process' says Beci. 'It was such a great surprise to see how Kat interpreted the themes, and then a challenge to add to her work in a way that was my style but still sympathetic. There is so much confidence in the way Kat draws, it was scary to match that, but I love how the pieces turned out!'.

A Hidden Place opens tonight, Thursday 18th April at 6.00pm until 9.00pm!  

A Hidden Place by Beci Orpin and Kat Macleod
From 18th April to 25th May
Lamington Drive
15-25 Keele Street
Collingwood, VIC 

Please note, there will be no pre-sales for this show, however interstate buyers can request an advance catalogue by emailing info@lamingtondrive.com today - Phone sales will open at 6pm tonight (April 18th).

'Crest / Fringe' by Beci Orpin and Kat Macleod for their joint show, opening in Melbourne tonight.