Five years ago, Edwina Edwards was living in Melbourne and working as a dental assistant. While she had been painting her entire life, it was only after making a tree change back to her hometown of Albury, NSW, that she began pursuing her art practice professionally.
‘[We] decided that the perks of city life no longer held their appeal,’ says Edwina. ‘The pressures of city living became something to escape back to my hometown of Albury. I took this opportunity to change my career path and go back to my first passion [and] enrolled in the Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts at TAFE.’
When returning Albury with her family, Edwina began appreciating the area’s natural beauty that she had taken for granted as a child. It was this very realisation that inspired her latest works included the exhibition, 9 Kilometres, opening at Brunswick Street Gallery this week!
9 Kilometres is Edwina’s first-ever solo exhibition. The title refers to the length the artist drives every day between her home and children’s school where she also works as an art technician. The scenes reflected in the exhibition’s 15 works showcase the landscapes and seasonal changes Edwina mentally absorbs along the way.
‘My style was more abstract a few years ago, but organically it has changed over time as I have immersed myself in my rural surroundings, refining my technique to represent the landscape in more detail and depth,’ Edwina says. ‘It is these everyday moments of awe of the ‘natural’ world and the wonder found in ordinary tasks that provide the inspiration for 9Kilometres.’
Edwina now works from a dedicated home studio/bungalow in her backyard. After years of only occasionally painting, she appreciates having a calm sanctuary to retreat to and focus on creating art.
‘I paint first and foremost for me. I love how a painting can change. I can start a painting with an idea of where I’m going to take it, and then end up on a completely different tangent. Sometimes the painting leads me, like life, which reminds me that I can’t always control everything and at times I need to let go.’
9 Kilometres by Edwina Edwards
Wednesday August 14 – Tuesday August 27
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm
Brunswick Street Gallery
Level 1 and 2, 322 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy, Victoria
