Olive Gill-Hille's second solo exhibition includes a collection of often functional and always sculptural artworks crafted from ethically sourced Western Australian jarrah and she-oak. Building on the themes of her debut exhibition, Trunk, Gill-Hille's latest works explore the delicate interplay between human relationships and the natural world. The body of work highlights the fragile equilibrium of our surroundings as well as our own human connections and anatomies.
Throughout the exhibition, Gill-Hille showcases her command of sculptural form and intuitive woodwork with organic, expressive carved shapes using the textures and natural qualities of native Australian timbers sourced from already fallen trees. The reduction in logging in future years combined with the effects of deforestation mean that each work is an act of preserving and honouring this diminishing resource.
‘The old growth trees are dying, and I'm making work out of these dying trees because that’s what’s there. I'm using a material that's plentiful’
Olive Gill-Hille is a multidisciplinary artist and designer born in Perth, WA, in 1994. She relocated to Melbourne to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2015) specialising in sculpture at the Victorian College of the Arts. During this time, she became interested in the utilitarian aspect of furniture and wanted to apply abstract and artistic concepts to practical objects. To develop skills in making, she undertook an associate degree in design (furniture) at RMIT University (2018). Gill-Hille aims to create pieces that transform furniture into involved and unconventional works of art. The designer’s experimental structures often reference the human body and adapt shapes and forms from the natural environment, developing a narrative surrounding the artworks while drawing inspiration from the material's history and her own working environment.
Thursday
21 September 2023
6–8pm
Free
Saturday
23 September 2023
3–4pm
Free
21 September – 22 October 2023
Tuesday – Saturday 10am–5pm
Sunday 12–4pm
On Gadigal land
Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert
20 McLachlan Ave
Rushcutters Bay NSW 2010
