“I went to the Highlands with a bunch of artists to do a few drawings of the landscape to express our support for the locals,” Mombassa (real name Chris O’Doherty) said.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a political artist or a social activist but if I can contribute in a small way to some of these causes I do.”

Highlands resident Ben Quilty and painter Euan Macleod, who won Archibald Prizes in 2011 and 1999 respectively, also have work in the exhibition, at the Watters Gallery in East Sydney.

“With my work, I was trying to do justice to the beauty of the Southern Highlands,” Macleod said. “A new coal mine would have disastrous consequences for such rich, beautiful country and for groundwater.”