Art Space show a display of desire

A NEW exhibition at Art Space Ballarat will transport viewers from Lydiard Street to the bold, medieval-inspired world of creative Emily Hearn, aka Emily N3ver.

Her new show, In Nitmur in Vetitum – Latin for We Strive for the Forbidden – features parables and portrayals exploring the allure of the untouchable.

“In looking at our current political climate, I felt it was my duty as an artist to look into the themes of what happens when we go after our desires to our detriment or to our success,” Hearn said.

“It’s about what drives us whether it’s ego or something more moralistically virtuous.”

The show features more than 30 pen and ink illustrations drawing on subject matter like classic folk stories, mythology and Hearn’s contemporary rendition of Albrecht Dürer’s Apocalypse series.

Having previously exhibited in The Louvre, Hearn will undertake an artist’s residency at the Chateau d’Orquevaux in France later this year.

She said displaying her work at Art Space Ballarat until then has given her the freedom to develop her technique further.

“It’s probably my most ambitious exhibition yet,” she said. “A lot of detail and time has gone into each piece. There’s a lot of intricate cross-hatching and shadowing. I got the longest lead-up I have had going into any exhibition I’ve done before.

“I had about 12 months so it gave me a lot more freedom to be more ambitious than I’m used to. I think that really reflects in the work.”

Hearn said Art Space Ballarat has been an ideal venue to showcase her style to new people.

“It’s really a gem of a location too in that it’s in a central location so close to the Art Gallery of Ballarat,” she said. “It’s so accessible.

“I get a lot of foot traffic and I’m being introduced to a range of people where normally my type of work wouldn’t reach them.”

Art Space Ballarat is open from 11am to 4pm Wednesdays to Sundays.

In Nitmur in Vetitum is running until Sunday 9 March.