Spring Collection offers a rare encounter of two colliding worlds, that of Rosie Deacon and Ken Done, individually known for their bold colour palettes and ability to capture the quintessential Australian experience.
Alongside existing works by both artists, Deacon’s new immersive installation, featuring a giant eighty-metre-long beaded necklace and a set of parrot earrings, encompasses the gallery space inviting exploration into new forms and materials: made from ‘Bouncing Putty’ donated by a toy shop, which has been saved from landfill to have a new life as an artwork. Done’s new series of never-before-seen paintings capture the incandescent beauty of the nature surrounding us: “our own garden, the reef – and the endless joy of colour,” says the artist.
Deacon’s installation takes inspiration from her childhood, especially the 80’s and 90’s fashion jewellery. Each element is crafted by hand in collaboration with the local community and the parrot earrings were inspired by one of Done’s Arnott’s biscuit tins, hanging precariously on the gallery wall.

Ken Done, Sweetpea reef, 2021, oil and acrylic on linen, 152 × 122cm. Courtesy the artist and Ngununggula, New South Wales
Ngununggula
6 August to 9 October 2022
New South Wales