CATHERINE O’DONNELL ‘Beyond the Shadow’ at Orange Regional Gallery

June 16, 2024

‘Beyond the Shadow’ is Catherine O’Donnell’s first major survey exhibition, curated by Lucy Stranger, and covers her practice over the last decade. The works will be showcased at Orange Regional Gallery from 9.06. – 4.09.22, in partnership with Grafton Regional Gallery.

Across drawing, sculpture and installation Catherine pays attention to the geometric detail and abstract forms of mid-century architecture, inviting the viewer to find the aesthetic poetry embedded within ordinary buildings. The exhibition will also include the artist’s first major installation: a 75%-to-scale fibro house that expands upon her ongoing elevation of everyday Australian architecture and social history.

The artist says: “The exhibition looks over a decade of work as I move from my existing practice of drawings and wall works to create a 3D large-scale installation of a house, surrounded by small-scale, gold-lead fibro house models … The fibro house, the architecture of my childhood, has a rich history extending back to the mid-1900s, with their roots in international social theory. ‘Fibro Majestic’, my new major installation generously supported by Create NSW, is an everywhere-everyman example of mid-century developments across Australia. It is synonymous with Australian identity. This new work, along with all the accompanying works over the past 10 years, deconstructs the home – low income housing in particular – to review utopian ideals about home design, suburbia and universal principles of order, as well as the impact on the individual.” Read more.

Image caption: Catherine O’Donnell, ‘Fibro Majestic’, 2022. Images courtesy of the artist.