Bunjil Place will soon be home to a major retrospective showcase of the delicate, bold, and quietly powerful works of renowned Australian artist, Jennifer Mills.
Titled, In the echo chamber, and set to open on 9 August, the exhibition brings together more than 100 pieces of work from Mills’ expansive 20-year career.
It looks to capture the nuanced depth of her artistic practice and the evolution of her ideas through watercolour, oil pastel, and physical erasure.
Moving from the playful surfaces of cult television shows and costume, to intimate reflections of childhood disability, Mills’ work invited viewers into a space where memory and ambiguity take the centre stage.
Mills is known for starting with found photographic images, and often disrupts the original narrative by obscuring, cutting, or altogether removing elements to shift the focus and meaning.
Mills said that she was thrilled when the curator from Bunjil, Penny Teale, first approached her about the survey exhibition.
“It will be my first opportunity to see my working dialogue with one another in one space,” Mills said.
“This is a privilege that I will share with my son, Darcy Luker, who has collaborated on many works with me over the past few years.”
Born in 1966, Mills was born in and also currently works in Naarm (Melbourne), with the upcoming exhibition marking a significant moment in her artistic venture.
A finalist in this year’s Dobell Drawing Prize, Mills’ accolades include being a consistent presence in prestigious awards.
While being a regular exhibitor with the Darren Knight Gallery since 1997, she was also a finalist in the Paul Guest Drawing Prize at Bendigo Art Gallery in 2024; a regular finalist in the Geelong Art Prize, Jacaranda Art Prize, and Mornington Peninsula National Works on Paper Prize.
In 2018, Mills won the Splash: McClelland Contemporary Watercolour Award; in 2012, she was included in Contemporary Australia: Women, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.
Mills’ work has also been included in group exhibitions, including Contemporary Australian Drawings 1; RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (2010); Magnetic Islands and more.
A series of public programs will run alongside In the echo chamber, giving local art lovers the opportunity to explore the themes of identity, presence, and the fragmented nature of meaning through an artist’s lens.
The exhibition will run for three months, ending on 16 November.
