CATHERINE O’DONNELL ‘FIBRO FAÇADE’ at LRG

February 23, 2022

Catherine O’Donnell’s solo exhibition is on display at Latrobe Regional Gallery from 15.01.-03.04.2022

Often overlooked, the fibro home is found all over Australia, including in Morwell. This type of housing was used for social housing estates, as they were low-cost housing solutions and  for some, holiday homes. Catherine O’Donnell reveals these buildings as an altruistic, beautiful, impractical refuge through her large-scale drawings.  

For the artist, these homes, with their simplicity of form, are not just beautiful but the embodiment of the utopian ideals of European modernism. O’Donnell’s huge drawing offers a fresh way of viewing these oft-derided homes. 

O’Donnell’s draughting skills are very impressive. This drawing goes beyond a static replication of the house but imbues these with a pathos and resonance that remind us these are homes. The screen door is ajar, the curtains pulled back – someone is home. 

Image Courtesty of Latrobe Regional Gallery. More info.