Bundanon opens newest season for 2023 'Fantastic Forms'

The exhibition showcases a mix of ceramics, sculptures and animation, with central works by Merric Boyd and three living Australian artists - Nabilah Nordin, Stephen Benwell and Rubyrose Bancroft.

Hundreds locally and from around the state made their way to Bundanon for the opening, which was comprised of guided tours, artist and curator talks and family friendly workshops and performances.

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Bundanon's head of curatorial and learning, Sophie O'Brien, said she had received positive feedback from visitors regarding the opening.

"I think people were really happy," Ms O'Brien said.

"It's a very colourful and inventive showcase and it uses the collection in a new way that we haven't done before."

There has never before been a full exhibition of Merric Boyd's work, according to Ms O'Brien.

"We've chosen about 200 drawing ceramics from the collection, so it's a very big presentation," she said.

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"It's exciting getting it out to people and being able to show them a full picture as to what Merric's practice was like."

Merric Boyd (1888-1959), father to Bundanon co-founder Arthur Boyd, is heralded as the father of Australian Studio Pottery, with his work taking inspiration from his immediate environment with a mix of fantastical elements.

Ms O'Brien said it has been a goal of hers since coming to Bundanon three years ago to put together a collection of his work.

When looking for artists to be showcased alongside Boyd, the Bundanon team knew they wanted Australian artists with different practices but distinctively similar themes to Boyd's.

"We were thinking 'whose practices are really diverse but still connected to this idea of energy, creativity, imagination and exploration of the world around you?'" Ms O'Brien said.

"Merric's drawings are of the world around him, animals, landscapes, trees and people, but they're refashioned in a very imaginative way.

"It's the idea of taking the world around you and then creating fantasy from it or creating a sort of jumping off point for imagination."

The three living Australian artists chosen for this exhibition are large-scale sculptor Nabilah Nordin, ceramicist Stephen Benwell and stop-motion emerging Bundjalung artist Rubyrose Bancroft.

"All three approach the fashioning of material, and we think these were the perfect three artists to respond to the work of Merric's," Ms O'Brien said.

There are currently four different large rooms for the exhibition, held in the newly designed museum at Bundanon.

Three of the rooms are a mix of the chosen contemporary artists and Merric's work, while the fourth is a standalone room for Merric's drawings and sketchbooks so you can get a sense of what his world was like from his perspective.

"This whole exhibition is about the world being made fantastic and how each of us make forms all the time, it's all based on stretching the boundaries of how we think about the world," Ms O'Brien said.

Fantastic Forms will run until June 18, more information can be found here.

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