Collections exhibition

This year’s ‘Collections‘ exhibition explores how our Polish heritage shapes what we gather, preserve, inherit, create and value.

Bringing together the work of 20 Polish-Australian artists, the exhibition offers diverse perspectives on heritage, memory, belonging and the things we choose to carry with us.

For this exhibition, I am presenting a new collection of Lipa / Linden Illuminants, alongside selected biochrome works on paper.

Lipa: A Living Collection

This collection brings together biochrome works on paper and illuminated velvet sculptures inspired by the linden tree (Tilia cordata), a plant deeply woven into my personal history and Polish heritage.

Growing up in Poland, I gathered medicinal plants with my mother and grandmother. The linden was among the most treasured—its blossoms collected each summer, dried, and brewed into tea for comfort, healing and care. It became a symbol of home, family, protection and belonging.

Created through the biochrome process, where organic matter interacts with photographic materials over time, these works carry traces of the plant while exploring how memories, traditions and stories become embedded in people and place. The illuminated velvet forms evoke the warmth of home, suggesting that knowledge and memory continue to illuminate our lives as they are passed through generations.

Presented as a living collection, the works reflect how heritage is gathered through plants, rituals and lived experience. This collection honours the plant that first taught me that nature can comfort, heal and connect us across generations, cultures and countries.

A return to the linden

Last year, while visiting Poland, I was fortunate to see numerous linden trees in flower. Seeing them again brought a familiar part of childhood into the present and deepened my connection to this collection.

The linden continues to appear across my creative and research practice. Several years ago, I also explored the plant in a chapter I contributed to The Mind of Plants, a book bringing together different perspectives on the relationships between plants and people.

Exhibition Opening, Sat 12 Sept, 4 – 8pm

The Collections vernissage is an opportunity to meet the participating artists, explore the exhibition and discover the creative stories behind the works.

The opening will include live piano and dance performances by Dorota Bartkowiak and Georgia Dutkowski.

If you’d like to see the diverse artists’ collections, have a chat about the Lipa / Linden Illuminants or my biochrome practice, I’d love to see you there.

Polish Spring Festival

Sunday 20 September 2026, time: 10 am–4 pm

The Collections exhibition coincides with the annual Polish Spring Festival, bringing the Polish-Australian community together for a day of art, food, music, dance and cultural celebration.

Alongside the exhibition, visitors can enjoy Polish food, souvenirs and community stalls, folk dance performances, childrens and family activities and much more.

Come along, explore the exhibition, meet the artists and enjoy a celebration of Polish culture and creativity.

Collections brings together ideas of gathering, preserving and carrying things forward — themes that feel particularly meaningful to me through the linden tree, its place in my childhood, and the memories and knowledge carried across generations.

I hope you’ll join us during the exhibition or at the Polish Spring Festival.

Collections Exibiting Artists:

Lukasz Obrocki
Jolanta Szymczyk
Ewa Safianska
Czesia Markiewicz
Malgorzata Osielska
Anna Ryan
Johana Klimecky
Anna Stanislawa
Renata Buziak
Urszula Daniels
Magda Myszkowski
Dorota Laskowski
Dana Chudzinski
Angela Paxton
Pawel Obrocki
Szczepan Urbanowicz
Dorota Nazarewicz
Therese Flynn-Clarke
Ingrid Bartkowiak
Julia Lebiocka
Kat Widomski