People and place in the frame

GALLERY 10’s current exhibition is exploring people and place until 31 August.

SAPIEN + SITE includes mixed media drawing, painting, photography and sculpture made by local artists Alison Parkinson, Erin McCuskey, Emily N3ver, Andrew Sutherland, Jackie Gorring, Martin Jones, Stephen Beaumont and David Mellows.

Gallery owner and artist Linda Franklin said the show explores how surrounds impact upon a person, and emotional, social and cultural identity.

Parkinson’s work involves large drawings that look at the internal journey of healing from external trauma. Her installation includes ceramic and bronze portrait busts.

McCuskey showcases her photographic series about the city of Luxville, the alter-ego of Ballarat, and asks, what if a town celebrates its artistic heart?

Meanwhile, N3ver illustrates her experiences as a queer woman to examine contractions within gender politics. She uses the satirical irony of the pop art genre to reference Ballarat’s iconic social myths and places.

Sutherland, a digital creator, has recorded his travels through China as a Caucasian in Asia – an outsider, an other, an observer – while printmaker and sculptor Jackie Gorring depicts outsiders, fringe dwellers and the unheard in society.

The portraits of painter Jones have been described as having great depth of emotion and presence, while his line drawings play with sadness.

Beaumont is known for his chalk drawings that depict the cacophony of urban existence, with humans blurring into the tarmac as they try to reach the other side.

Mellows paints urban scenes designed to show the graphic patterns of a city, including a work depicting a lone man walking past the historic swing gates at the Ballarat train station.

Gallery 10 is open from 11am to 5pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 10 Bridge Mall. A meet-the-artists session will take place from 3pm tomorrow.