Winter at Tweed Regional Gallery

TWEED Regional Gallery has released a vivid new program for the colder months – a great time to explore the region’s art world.

Gallery director Ingrid Hedgcock said in a seasonal letter that curiosity and encounters with the world around us feature throughout the exhibitions and that at their core is the notion of care.

“For the materials used, creatures great and small, and for the earth,” Hedgcock said.

“Larger-than-life spiders adorn our walls with vibrant colour, while encounters with materiality and more-than-human worlds are explored by our curious artists.”

Maria Fernanda Cardoso’s Spiders of Paradise, opening on May 10, is part of the artist’s ongoing photographic series alongside her acclaimed video work On the Origins of Art I-II.

Cardoso’s subject is the tiny Australian Maratus spider – measuring less than five millimetres – and its unique, brightly-coloured abdomen, which forms part of its elaborate mating rituals.

Her work unites science, art and nature and celebrates the beauty of the natural world, revealing the rarely-seen sophisticated lives of native creatures.

The artist will present a floor talk and exhibition walkthrough on Friday, May 9 at 5pm.

Other exhibitions to be celebrated on opening night include Tamara Mendel’s Key Rhythm, Luther Cora’s Breast Plates, and Debbie Taylor-Worley and Sophie Taylor’s Gunimaa-Source.

The current exhibit, Painting Life: Margaret Olley and Works, continues. Hedgcock said she had been delighted by the support for the gallery’s acquisition appeal for Ben Quilty’s Archibald Prize-winning portrait of Margaret Olley in 2011.

“We’re looking forward to sharing with you all our winter program has to offer,” she said.

Bookings for the May 9 event are essential. For information on school holiday events and other activities, visit gallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au .