The Pulse of Life #2

Gillian lives and works on Bullongen country (Gold Coast). Her personal experience with mental illness, which peaked during the years of 2015-2018, provided the space, self-examination, and support that ultimately led to her full-time art practice. 

Gillian began exhibiting in 2021, with her work held in galleries and private collections. As a visual poet, she’s fascinated by the multidisciplinary interplay between words and images. She uses printmaking, sculptures, artist books, and painting to deepen communication and artistic expression. 

Gillian’s local Jabiru Island wetlands inspired her latest artworks, central to which are the diverse responses to the environmental toll of development. By inviting viewers on a journey of exploration, she hopes to spark conversations, encourage meaningful discussion and foster greater awareness, compassion, and connection to our natural world.

Follow Gillian on Instagram and check out her website.

My latest artworks focus on the Jabiru Island wetlands. Rather than whole scenes, I detailed the mangrove roots through a printmaking technique called blind debossing (indented). This provided an interesting substrate, and I used the positive spaces to handwrite my poem. The subtlety of pencil represents fragility and invites you into a more intimate experience. This, together with multiple orientations, reveals the full poem for those who invest the time and effort, challenging our usual seven second attention span.