BLUE
Opening Event:
11-4pm Saturday 31st January
Exhibition Runs:
31st Jan – 22nd February
Lander—Se: 585 Dunns Creek Rd, Red Hill
Lander_se and Amy Voterakis present BLUE — a trio exhibition celebrating the poetic, emotional, and material depths of this time-honoured hue.
Curated by Lander_se director, Hannah Nowlan, alongside guest curator Amy Voterakis, BLUE brings together three female artists — painter Caitlin Rigby and ceramicists Yen Qin and Amy Leeworthy.
“Blue has a rich history in art, from the precious lapis lazuli pigment to Picasso’s ‘Blue Period’ and International Klein Blue. Blue-and-white pottery, perfected in China was then imitated by the Europeans in their Chinoiserie styles and Dutch Delftware. Beyond colour, blue embodies mood – from describing a feeling of melancholy to inducing a sense of calm and relaxation. I’m excited to work with Hannah to present this exhibition BLUE, bringing together three contemporary artists exploring the many shades and meanings of blue — from sky and sea to feeling and form. ”
Caitlin Rigby’s paintings unfold in soft grey-blues, built through lightly layered washes and intuitive, reflective gestures. Drawing on horizons, rain-heavy skies, wings in motion, and shifting landscapes, her works explore liminal states — in-between moments shaped by memory, transition, and introspection.
Yen Qin combines wheel thrown, hand-manipulated forms with layered surfaces. Classic forms are twisted and pierced. Blue is a colour she returns to again and again, in reference to the Chinese blue and white pottery, as she explores identity and navigates the ‘third cultural space’ in which she occupies, as an Asian woman in Australia.
Amy Leeworthy presents a body of sculptural ceramic works that move between ritual and domestic function. Among these works are urns – vessels intended to exist within the home long before they are ever needed. In encouraging a relationship with these objects over time, Leeworthy’s work gently reframes ideas of mortality, and remembrance, allowing beauty, utility, and meaning to coexist.
Together, BLUE forms a dialogue that honours blue’s long visual and cultural history while revealing its capacity to convey emotion, materiality, and meaning.
