Stephanie Creigh

‘Southern State of Mind’

18 September to 13 October 2024

Opening Event Saturday 21 September @3pm

Stephanie has a strong connection with the Australian landscape.
Growing up, surrounded by the lush bushlands of the Mid North Coast and the Northern Tablelands. Both places have significantly inspired her love and respect for the land, spending her childhood exploring her artistic talent.

Inspired by the landscape, Stephanie used her passion and created her Year Twelve Major piece, ‘My Country’, which has been showcased in the Art Express 2022 exhibition. From there, she has curated purely commission-based artworks, documenting her work on the Instagram page @majella.inc

Stephanie currently lives in Tamworth, New South Wales, creating artworks from home, inspired by home. With a curated artmaking style, she uses daubs of quickly applied paint, offset by different mark-making, building an array of patterns and textures, symbolic of much of Australia’s varied landscape. Techniques of applying light on dark and dark on light, contributes to the rich tertiary colour palette.

Her emotional connection is supported through her technique, the land commands our respect and Stephanie’s work captures this energy and sense of place.

“My debut exhibition, ‘Southern State of Mind’, has been inspired by my travels through South Australia. Discovering so much rich history and wonder that comes from the land. I was driven by the stories that were told. My artworks are snippets into the exploration of the South Australian landscape. 

Each stop throughout the Flinders ranges and further, the Eyre Peninsula, allowed me to connect with the land. I became absolutely infatuated with the variety out there - the variety of colour, texture, pattern and landscape. Everywhere I looked, turned, walked and drove to, has now become a visual I always look back on. 

Thankfully, I took lots of pictures. 

Some have been turned into the artworks here at Weswal. Nine works have been created using daubs of acrylic paint mixed in gel impasto medium, carved out and layered on bright block backgrounds. Four works, act as experimentation with mediums and colour on paper. 

My intention for ‘Southern State of Mind’ is to encourage the viewer to appreciate nature’s power and the beauty within the details of Australia’s landscape and also to incite imagination, storytelling and emotion.”