Local sculptor Louiseann King has been quietly working at her studio in Eganstown to produce an interesting exhibition of strong emotional content.

She succeeded in producing a work which is an inspiration to all of us.

I attended the opening and walked into a space with an ambiance not unlike that of a temple, a church or a library.

In short, a space in which the feeling of a strong sense of reverence was the overwhelming experience.

I observed the behaviour of others who attended the event and noticed a hush falling over each and every one who entered the space.

A space which seemed to have been set up to affect the viewer into stillness.

The stillness of contemplation. This is strong art indeed.

King’s solo exhibition has been two years in the making – and no doubt a lot longer in the mind of the artist.

Put that together with a dedicated and committed art practice and it is therefore no wonder that the impact of the exhibition is overwhelming, and the detail absolutely exquisite. 

The remarkable installation is filled with glass and mirrors.

As a consequence, the installation is also filled with the magic of mirrored images and reflections.

All that is presented to us in the half light of dusk – the reflective part of the day.

This is what the notes to the exhibition told me about the work: “The immersive installation is an imagined landscape comprised of objects  foraged and formed; in some cases completely transformed through a casting process.

“Paying homage to the fragility and beauty of nature, these tangible objects – many gathered from the bushland near her home and studio – are woven into the work in poetic layers, which touch upon family and the lived experience of women in Australia, particularly in connection to the land and domestic enterprise.”

One aspect of the work is a soundscape created in a collaboration between King and sound artist Phillip Samartzis.

In the catalogue essay by the scholar and artist Dr Greer Honeywill, she writes: “King is not only an artist, she is a poet.

“Not a poet in the conventional way of rhyming and verse, but in the ancient meaning of the word which casts the poet as a maker of things. 

“As poet/alchemist, King brings together the foraged, the bronze cast and the collected, transforming her found and made objects into a chorus, allowing the memories and histories associated with every element to sing silently.”

Elsewhere she mentions: “A central character in the exhibition is the found kitchen table, a domestic work bench from times past.

“The domestic altar. A gendered object.

“A passive witness to life lived within its gaze.

“The memories now deeply ingrained in the surface patina.”

Louiseann King is an artist who revels in the magic and tension of the space between moments.

Between something that just happened and something that is yet to happen.

The alchemist no longer attempting to create gold from base metal, but rather golden moments from the gathered and the made.

This is an exhibition that’s not to be missed.

It runs until February 18, thus there is plenty of time.

Although, if the time goes as fast as the whole of 2017 seems to have done, go and see it soon. 

You will be enriched by the experience.