Practice overview and CV

My work becomes the residue of ‘lived’ encounter. I am particularly interested in how landscapes of shifting atmospheres, and gardens, both in their wild and cultivated forms operate as unstable vessels that hold biography, memory, and perceptual experience.

Wendy Stokes practice is driven and filtered through her experiences of the natural environment and those connected to personal histories; making images which allow for moments of pause and a celebration of spirit. Working across large format gestural painting, drawing and printmaking,her work emerges from accumulative sensory and elemental experiences of landscape.

Stokes practice has been shaped by her pastoral upbringing and, as an adult, a sustained engagement with the shifting and fluid spaces of the coastal landscape adjacent to her home on the east coast of Australia. Living opposite the ocean, rugged headlands and shorelines, Wendy has consistently walked and swum in these atmospheric fluid spaces for 6 decades. These meaningful environments have been formative in establishing a lifelong focus on her experience of landscaping place through embodiment, memory, and the senses.

Such familiarity, routine and immersion in the elements, of air and water, and how they activate landscape spaces has been pivotal to informing the experiential ground of her practice.These experiences resonate strongly with Romantic and sublime traditions, where scale, volatility, and exposure dominate. Through such exposure as repetitive encounters they become active forces infiltrating one’s own psychology conjuring metaphors around strength, fragility, loss, renewal and nurture.

Two international residencies; Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris and The Hamptons, New York have been pivotal toward deepening her understanding of place and her location within the dialogue of current practice. Her works purposefully wrestle with ambiguous ground; between the Romantic lineage of landscape representation and Modernist Abstraction, while also challenging contemporary notions between drawing and painting. [1]

Her thinking is further enriched by Robert Macfarlane’s writing on the layered language of landscape and place, as well as feminist arts writers who examine walking and embodiment as creative and intellectual practices.

[1]Through a reflective process of journey and return Stokes has maintained a sustained engagement with Claude Monet's Nymphéas suite; exploring it as a collective image and vessel to memory. Late in 2010 Stokes visited Paris and returned in 2014 as part of an Internationale des Arts Cite Residency which included extended access to Monet's garden in Giverny, (courtesy Fondation Claude Monet); and field research in the coastal terrain of Étretat, Normandy.

CV

Visual Arts Practice: Painting, Drawing, Printmaking

Resides and works Mid North Coast NSW, Australia

Education

2016	MFA Research UNSW Art and Design
2014	Cite International des Arts, Paris, UNSW Studio residency
1985	Graduate Diploma Visual Art, Sydney College of the Arts
1980	Diploma in Art, Newcastle College of Advanced Education, Newcastle
1980	member Sydney Printmakers to present
1999-2015 1992	Teacher North Coast Institute TAFE in painting, drawing, printmaking Guest artist Hampton Editions,Long Island, New York

Solo Exhibitions

2022	BMGart; *Flower in the Wind-Notations of Memory;* Adelaide
2021	*Blended Geographies / Parallel Landscapes* as part of the #LIVEWITHART series curated by Catherine Asquith Art Advisory, exhibited VMG, Melbourne
2019	Glasshouse Port Macquarie Regional Gallery; *Within and Between Walking in the space of Landscape*; Port Macquarie,NSW
2017	Maitland Regional Art Gallery; *Walking through the space of landscape*; Maitland, NSW
2016	Grafton Regional Gallery; *Retracing Memory*; Grafton, NSW
2015	Tamworth Regional Gallery; *In Conversation: The Nymphéas*, Tamworth NSW
2014	BMG art, Adelaide, S.A Cite des Arts, Open studio, *Drawing as site, Paris, France Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Drawing as site, Paris and Giverny*, Coffs Harbour NSW
2012	Catherine Asquith Gallery, *Mark and Place – the Space Between*; Melbourne Walcha Gallery of Art, Walcha, NSW
2011	Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, *A Silent Conversation*, Coffs Harbour
2010	BMG art, *Aspects of Transience, Adelaide, South Australia Catherine Asquith Gallery Resilience*, Melbourne Glasshouse Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie Layered Reference, Friends of the Gallery print commission
2009	Catherine Asquith Gallery, *Interplay, Melbourne Tamworth Regional Gallery, Transience*, Tamworth
2008	Catherine Asquith Gallery, *New Territory* Melbourne
2005	Sydney art Darlington, Sydney, *Marked in Time*
2003	BMG art, Adelaide South Australia
2002	Robin Gibson Gallery, *Layers of Association*, Sydney
2001	Flinders Lane Gallery, *Encased in Memory*, Melbourne Galerie Gora, Montreal, Canada
1998	Axia Modern Art, Melbourne
1997	Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne Crawford Gallery, Darlinghurst, Sydney
1995	BMG art, *New York Series* Adelaide, South Australia
1994	Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1993	Manning Regional Gallery, *Estuary Series* Taree, NSW Bridge Street Gallery, Sydney *New York Mono prints and Paintings*
1992	Guest artist Hampton Editions, Long Island, New York
1991	BMG art, Adelaide, South Australia Bridge Street Gallery, Sydney Editions Galleries, South Melbourne
1989	Editions Galleries, South Melbourne
1987	BMG art, Woollahra, Sydney
1985	Editions Galleries, South Melbourne Painters Gallery, East Sydney

Invitational and Selected Award Exhibitions

2026 2025	Uncertain Sanctuary, Sydney Printmakers, Garden Gallery, Royal Botanical Garden,Sydney Sydney Contemporary SCAF24; Paper, Michelle Perry Fine Arts Sydney Printmakers;Unique State , Lane Cove Community Gallery Sydney Printmakers:Visible but Intangible Portfolio, Megalo Print Studio, and Gallery,Canberra
2024	James Makin Gallery Award, Paddington Art Prize & Paddington Art Prize Finalist, Gallery Leven, Redfern *Grafton Regional Gallery; Line Going for a Walk: Artworks from The JADA Collection* Sydney Contemporary SCAF24; Paper, Michelle Perry Fine Arts Sydney Printmakers:Visible but Intangible Portfolio; PCA Gallery,Melbourne *Origin-the place where something begins: Sydney Printmakers,* Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor,NSW
2023	Sydney Contemporary SCAF23; Michelle Perry Fine Arts *Origin-the place where something begins: Sydney Printmakers;* The Glasshouse Regional Gallery,Port Macquarie
2022	*Paper,* Michelle Perry Fine Arts, Chippendale, NSW
2021	*To the Edges: 60 Years of Sydney Printmakers,* Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Manly NSW
2020	*Sydney Printmakers 2020, May Space, Waterloo, Sydney In the Shade II, Sydney Printmakers, Lane Cove Community Gallery, Lane Cove In the Shade II*, Glasshouse Port Macquarie Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie
2019	*Borderless-Sydney Printmakers, Megalo Print Studio and Gallery, Canberra A Poetry of Ideas*, Art Space on The Concourse, Chatswood
2018	*Douro Print Biennial, Douro, Portugal Sydney Printmakers 2018* – Members Exhibition, Artsite Gallery, Camperdown
2017	*Partners in Print, Sydney Printmakers Kickarts Contemporary Arts, Cairns 6x6* Metropolis Gallery, Geelong Global Print, Douro, Portugal
2016	*Printed in Australia, Spot 81, Chippendale Fusion, Gallery Collection, Port Macquarie Regional Gallery at Glasshouse Sydney Printmakers, Art Vault Mildura, Vic Sydney Printmakers 55 Years*, Artsite Gallery, Camperdown, NSW
2014	*Boundless & Borderless:* A Print Portfolio Exchange between Open Studio, Canada & Sydney Printmakers, Australia, Touring Exhibition in Taiwan *Antipodes*, Northart Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand and Pine Street Gallery, Chippendale
2013	*Air, Light, Space-Contemporary Abstraction, Angus Nivison, Wendy Stokes, Michael Cusack Port Macquarie Regional Gallery 25x25 Contemporary Japanese and Australian Printmaking, Japan Foundation, Sydney Boundless and Borderless* Canada exchange exhibition, Open Studios, Pine Street Studio, Sydney
2012	*Finalist JADA, Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton touring exhibition Sydney Printmakers* Moree Plains, Maitland, Cowra, Wagga Wagga Regional Galleries *Surface* Catherine Asquith Gallery at Depot Gallery Danks St, Waterloo *Finalist EMSLA,* Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
2011	*Finalist Fleurieu Water Prize, South Australia EMSLA Award, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery View Points Approach to Landscape, Catherine Asquith Gallery , Melbourne Hot off the Press, 50 years Sydney Printmakers, Manly Regional Museum and Art Gallery Reflections, Glasshouse Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie JADA Touring show* EMSLA Touring show, Muswellbrook, Taree Regional Galleries, NERAM,Armidale NSW Walcha Gallery of Art, Walcha ,NSW Invitation Print Portfolio, Grafton Regional Gallery *Sydney Printmakers 50th Anniversary show* Manly Regional Museum and Art Gallery, Manly
2010	*JADA Grafton Regional Gallery Touring exhibition* *Finalist The Glover Prize, Tasmania* *Finalist The Alice Prize , Alice Springs* *EMSLA, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery and touring show JADA,* Touring exhibition, Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton, NSW
2009	Select- Port Macquarie Regional Gallery *Landscape- Catherine Asquith Gallery, Melbourne Finalist, Country Energy Landscape Prize, Lismore Regional Gallery ,Lismore NSW Finalist Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery New South Wales, Sydney Broken Hill Art Award, Broken Hill Regional Gallery EMSLA*, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
2008	*Sydney Printmakers, Galerie Skara , Norway Confluence , Reclaiming Life* Port Macquarie Regional Gallery *JADA* Tamworth Regional Gallery, Stanthorpe Regional Gallery, Qld *45 Years Sydney prints, Tamworth Regional Gallery Hawkesbury Regional Gallery Red Herrings* John Miller Galleries, Newcastle, Stephen Killick, Geoff Maddams, Wendy Stokes
2007	*Aspects of the Collection, Port Macquarie Regional Gallery JADA Award, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery NSW Parliament House*, Macquarie St Sydney
2006	*JADA Award, Grafton Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie Regional Gallery 45 Years Sydney prints, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney Sydney printmakers* Max Taylor Galleries, Summer Hill *A Local Dialect, Port Macquarie Regional Gallery Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Award*, Caloundra Regional Gallery, Caloundra Qld
2005	*Collaboration, Sydney Printmakers ,Gosford, Tweed River and Noosa Regional Galleries Country Energy Landscape Prize finalist, Grafton Regional Gallery Countryscapes*, NSW Parliament House , Sydney
2004	John Gordon Gallery, Coffs Harbour, Christmas Show *Scratch ,Pull, Grind and Scrape*, Sydney Printmakers, Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton Grafton Regional Gallery; Wendy Stokes paintings, ceramics J Kesby
2003	*Sounds of Stillness, Port Macquarie Hastings Regional Gallery Scratch, Pull, Grind and Scrape* Sydney Printmakers, Mosman Regional Gallery *Abstraction Margery Edwards (New York paintings) and Wendy Stokes , Port Macquarie Regional Gallery, NSW*
2002	*Postcards* Seven Regional Artists, Southern Cross University, Lismore; Cowra Gallery NERAM Regional Art Museum , Armidale, Packsaddlers Exhibition *Scratch, Pull, Grind and Scrape* Sydney Printmakers, Mosman Regional Gallery *Beyond the Surface*, Sydney Printmakers, UTS Gallery, Sydney, Iowa State University Print Exchange
2001	NERAM Regional Art Museum, Packsaddlers Exhibition Atelier Skara, Norway Tweed River Regional Gallery, *Postcards: Seven Regional Artists, Southern Cross University, Lismore; Cowra Regional Gallery Sydney Printmakers, Port Macquarie Hastings Regional Gallery Postcards* Moree Plains Regional Gallery, Moree Axia Modern Art, Melbourne;Wendy Stokes, Kate Briscoe, George Raftopolous
2000	*Postcards* Port Macquarie Hastings Regional Gallery *Sydney Printmakers, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery Swan Hill Regional Gallery Print Award*, Swan Hill, Vic
1999	*Sydney Printmakers, Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Chile Sydney Printmakers*, UTS Gallery, Sydney
1998	*MPAC Print Prize*, Mornington Arts Centre, Mornington Victoria
1997	*Sydney Printmakers, Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney Sydney Printmakers, Sir Herman Black Gallery, University of Sydney Cool Changes in Printmaking* : Six Printmakers of NSW North Coast, Lake Russell Gallery, Coffs Harbour
1996	*Sydney Printmakers, Rex Irwin, Sydney; Burnie Regional Gallery, Tasmania Sydney Printmakers, Borderlines, WAC, Willoughby Works on Paper Fair* Sydney Printmakers, State Library, NSW, Sydney *Sydney Printmakers*, Cultural Exchange Exhibition, Guizhou, China
1995	*Borderlines* Sydney Printmakers, Studio One, Spiral Arm Gallery, Kingston, ACT
1994	ACAF 4 Melbourne, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1993	Travelling *‘Prime’ Painting* Exhibition, Newcastle, Dubbo, Gold Coast City Regional Galleries; Muswellbrook Regional Gallery Editions Southbank Galleries, South Melbourne
1993- 1980	*Sydney Printmakers*, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1992	*The Artist and the Printmaker II*, Peter Cole, Wendy Stokes, Grahame Fransella,Idris Murphy, John Coburn, Richard Hook, Arthur Boyd and John Olsen at Editions Southbank Galleries, South Melbourne
1991	*The Artist and the Printmaker I,* Peter Cole, David Rankin, Bruno Leti, Wendy Stokes, Idris Murphy, Jock Young, Editions Southbank Galleries, Melbourne Editions South bank Galleries, Melbourne *ACTA Maritime Touring Exhibition* Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaidee
1990	*ACTA Maritime Touring Exhibition* Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide Editions Southbank Galleries, South Melbourne *MPAC Print Prize*, Mornington Arts Centre, Mornington, Victoria
1989	*ACTA Maritime Touring Exhibition* Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide
1988	Editions Southbank Galleries, South Melbourne
1987	Editions Southbank Galleries, South Melbourne *Alvin Galleries, Hong Kong Fremantle Print Prize*, Fremantle Arts Centre
1985	*Sydney College of the Arts Graduate Diploma Exhibition, Pier 3 Hickson Rd, The Rocks*
1984	Editions Southbank Galleries, South Melbourne
1983	*Henri Worland Print Prize, Warrnambool Regional Gallery; acquisition Seoul International Print Biennale,* National Museum of Modern Art Seoul, Korea
1982	*Roundhouse Gallery, University of NSW, Grahame Kuo, George Barker, Leong Chan, Rose Vickers, Wendy Stokes, Michael Bognar, Ruth Faerber, Margaret Spratt Gallery 62* Newcastle *Sydney Printmakers, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Bathurst and Penrith Regional Galleries. Pioneer Art Award*, Swan Hill Regional Gallery
1981	*Newcastle Printmakers, Lake Macquarie Regional Gallery University of NSW Art Prize finalist*, UNSW Kensington Bathurst Regional Gallery, works on Paper Award acquisition
1980	Hogarth Galleries, *recent graduates* from Newcastle College of Advanced Education *Graduate Exhibition*, Bond Store, Newcastle
1979	*Gold Coast City Art Prize- Gold Coast City Gallery and Maitland City Art Gallery, Tertiary Student Art Prize*, Maitland, NSW

Institutional Collections

National Gallery of Australia

Art Gallery New South Wales

Warrnambool Regional Gallery

Tamworth Regional Gallery

Grafton Regional Gallery

Bathurst Regional Gallery

Gosford Regional Gallery

Geelong Regional gallery

Manly Gallery and Museum

The Glasshouse,Port Macquarie

Yarilla Arts and Museum, Coffs Harbour

Newcastle University

Charles Sturt University

Parliament House, Canberra

Print Council of Australia

Australian Secondary Schools Project, Print Council of Australia

Artbank

Publications, reviews and essays

ORIGIN-the place where something begins, catalogue Sydney Printmakers ,The Glasshouse 2023

Contemplating Grace , catalogue Sydney Printmakers, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery 2022

To the Edges: 60 Years of Sydney Printmakers, Manly Art Gallery & Museum 2021

Within and Between the Space of Landscape, catalogue interview, Bridget Purtill, Curator, Glasshouse Regional Gallery and the artist; Glasshouse Regional Gallery,Port Macquarie 2019

In Conversation: The Nymphéas, essay Louise Martin Chew, Tamworth Regional Gallery, Tamworth

Air, Light, Space - Contemporary Abstraction, essay Louise Martin Chew, introduction Niomi Sands, Port Macquarie Regional Gallery at the Glasshouse, Port Macquarie, 2013

A Silent Conversation, essay Christopher Orchard, Dr Leigh Summers, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery 2011

View Points -Approach to Landscape essay, Laura Murray Cree, Catherine Asquith Gallery, 2011

Resilience, essay John McDonald; Catherine Asquith Gallery 2010Wendy Stokes, Interplay Catherine Asquith Gallery, Herald Sun, April 2009, Jeff Makin

Transience, essay Sandra McMahon, Tamworth Regional Gallery, June 2009

Marked in Time, essay Marilyn Walters; Sydney Town Art, 2005

Interplay, essay Olga Sankey Grafton Regional Gallery, 2004

Abstraction: Margery Edwards, Wendy Stokes, Port Macquarie Hastings Regional Gallery, 2003

Printmaking in the Sun, Dan Welden and Pauline Muir

Galerie Gora, essay Sharni Lloyd; Montreal Canada, 2000

Images in Contemporary Australian Painting, Vol 3 Nevill Drury Craftsman House 1998

The Adelaide Review, April 1995, True Believer, JN

Periphery, February 1993, The Estuary Series, J Matsinos

The Weekend Australian,1991, Children of the Cosmos, Elwyn Lynn, April13-14

Images in Contemporary Australian Painting, Vol1 Nevill Drury Craftsman House 1992

The Weekend Australian – Children of the Cosmos April 13-14,1991,Elwyn Lynn

New Art Four – Profiles in Contemporary Australian Art, 1990 edited Nevill Drury

The Bulletin, July 10,1990, New and Notable, Glenn Russell p 112

Periphery –May 1990 The North Coast in Perspective R Rixon

Entertainment Times Hong Kong June 6, 1987 Ian Findlay

Eight Australian Artists–Alvin Gallery, Hong Kong

Weekend Australian Haunted by the ellipse of form– October 31 – November 1, 1987, Elwyn Lynn

Sydney Morning Herald – Sydney Printmakers, 1981

Sydney Morning Herald – Sydney Printmakers 14^th June, 1980, James Fairfax; Women Artists of Australia

Made with U do

Wendy Stokes

wendy stokes