Olivia Brice

My work this year has centred on capturing the natural world as well as the urban landscape around where I live in Southbank, Melbourne. The contrast between the high-density cityscape and the tranquil Royal Botanic Gardens have provided a rich source of inspiration for generating artworks that contemplate, compare and ultimately celebrate both.

Part of my daily ritual (or daily “escape”) has been to walk along the river and into the nearby gardens, where I find myself slowing down and being drawn towards the intricate details and geometry of the plants around me. Through the process of making art, this initially subconscious attraction to pattern and symmetry has become a deliberate, integral part of my practice. I find studying the quiet order of the plant world meditative and am driven to explore new ways to represent it whilst also acknowledging the constructed environment that surrounds and sometimes mirrors it. For this exhibition, the built environment has been represented using snippets of urban imagery, as well as the street map of my local area as the “leadlight” borders of a faux stained-glass design.

Ultimately, my work is reflective of how I experience the city, the gardens and the in-between spaces I wander through.