Exhibiting together for the first time, Jane Millington and Sophia Legoe both explore the natural world that surrounds them and gives them each harmony. ‘Suffuse’, allows you to be absorbed. Wander through and imagine you are experiencing the delights of the soft and hard corals and molluscs that hide below the water’s surface in the local marine sanctuaries, or further north in our famous reef we hold close to our hearts. Or talk a walk in the picturesque region of our peninsula or beyond, and remember the views and moments you have lived before, at one with nature.
Sophia Legoe has recently returned to her artistic practice and continues to delight in expressing herself in her glazing chemistry. The Group Ceramics exhibition ‘Habitat’ was her first involvement with The Hive, following an exhibition in Robe in early 2024. In both, her works were very well received.
“These works come from memory and play and take inspiration from the natural world, particularly the underwater world and reef habitats.
They are made intuitively, with fingers and hands, with a desire to express and push the natural malleability of the clay. Accidents in the making process drive and inform the pieces into their sculptural forms.
The glazing is done in multiple layers and acts as a conduit to suffuse the form with colour and beauty.
Jane Millington is continuing to advance her artistic practice, expanding technically and in subject while staying true to her deep seated roots in nature. Finding recognition, Jane is a just announced finalist in the Pro Hart Outback Prize and recently, the 2024 Soho Marine Art Prize and 2023 Maritime Art Prize.
“This series captures the views that appear momentarily between the silent stands of Moonah as you take the Lovers’ Lane trail along the Queenscliff coastline. These snapshot views take in the seascapes of Port Phillip Bay on the one side and the quiet waters of Swan Bay on the other.
Among the Moonah stands that cling to the edges of these Wadawurrung lands there is a quietening. A gnarled embrace from nature who has many hushed stories to tell, should we listen. This is the place I go to be still with nature and let the muted light remind me of how well our environment cares for us.
My artwork provides painted canvas windows where you can be still with nature. I generate immersive moments that invite awareness of our relationship to the environment. In this, I challenge us all to rethink our approach to living gently. “
