Susanna Robinson, Robert Maclaurin, Jane Dickins, and Brooke Fitzsimons.
AUSTRALIA DAY
In Celebration of Australian Cultural Heritage, four established native Artists exhibit at Australia House in support of the High Commission.
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Australian art holds a distinct voice in the global conversation, rooted in an inherent sense of place and a deep connection to its diverse landscapes and cultural heritage. From the rich traditions of First Nations art to the contemporary practices of our nation’s painters, sculptors, and creatives, Australian art captures the essence of resilience, curiosity, and storytelling. It is art that is inherently tied to the land but simultaneously extends beyond its borders, resonating with audiences worldwide.
This exhibition, presented in collaboration with the High Commission of Australia, exemplifies the power of cultural diplomacy. Embassies and high commissions offer extraordinary opportunities to showcase the talent of their citizens on the world stage. They remind us of the art's essential role in fostering dialogue, building relationships, and illuminating the nuances of identity. Through exhibitions like this, we not only celebrate artistic achievement but also engage in cultural exchange that enriches and inspires both artist and audience alike.
As co-curators Amanda J Lay and Hester Baldwin, we are honoured to present the works of four exceptional Australian artists: Robert Maclaurin, Brooke Fitzsimons, Susanna Robinson, and Jane Dickins. Each of these artists brings a unique vision to the exhibition, offering distinct perspectives on themes ranging from the Australian landscape's beauty and complexity to deeply personal explorations of identity, memory, and connection.
Robert Maclaurin’s evocative landscapes capture the vast, almost otherworldly expanses of the Australian terrain, evoking its raw power and serene beauty. Brooke Fitzsimons’ works explore textures and forms that invite contemplation, while Susanna Robinson brings a sensitive and introspective lens to themes of nature and humanity. Jane Dickins’ pieces speak to the dynamic interplay between abstraction and representation, offering the viewer a fresh perspective on the familiar. These artists provide a compelling snapshot of contemporary Australian art, demonstrating its depth, diversity, and dynamism.
The curatorial process has been a truly collaborative endeavour, enriched by Amanda J. Lay’s experience and unique perspective as an Australian who has lived and worked as a gallerist, primarily representing Australian artists in the United Kingdom for over 40 years. Hester’s insight into the intersections of cultural identity and artistic expression has added an outsider’s perspective invaluably adding to the curatorial process. This collaboration mirrors the themes at the heart of the works we are presenting: a dialogue between place, perspective, and the universal language of creativity.
We hope that this exhibition not only introduces you to the remarkable talent of these Australian artists but also invites you to reflect on the broader role that art plays in connecting us to each other and to the world. It is a celebration of the talent, innovation, and imagination that defines Australian art, and it is an honour to share it with you in this unique and meaningful space.
Hester Baldwin & Amanda J Lay, 2025
Jane Dickins
Jane is an Australian artist living and working in Deal, Kent. Using gestural lines and brushstrokes, her figurative paintings explore the dynamic relationship between mood and movement.
Each work begins with a series of blind contour drawings, which help Jane understand and intuitively connect with her subject. She then refines these spontaneous lines with a calligraphy brush and acrylic paint, using fluid strokes to create striking silhouettes of animals and people.
Jane began drawing and painting in 2019 and credits Japan with her understanding of mark-making. While living in Japan, she practised calligraphy with a Japanese master. It was a formative experience, emphasising the economy of line and the potential for meaning to be present in a single brushstroke.
Originally trained as an archaeologist, Jane worked with Aboriginal artists in the desert homelands before winning a Commonwealth scholarship to study prehistoric design at the University of Cambridge. This background in ancient and indigenous art is now a rich resource for her artistic practice.
Inspired by the simplicity and immediacy of folk art and tribal traditions, Jane is drawn to the challenge of distilling a subject’s essence into just a few lines and a limited palette of colours; “this commitment to simplicity is both a technical and philosophical pursuit in my work”.
Susanna Robinson
Susanna Robinson (b.1981) is an Australian artist trained in Florence who captures the stillness of private worlds in representational drawings and oil paintings. Her work is held in private collections internationally.
Susanna’s work was selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London in 2023. Her Archibald Prize entry of Chef Guy Grossi was selected for Salon des Refuses and toured to Tweed River Gallery in 2010. Following a solo show in Sydney in 2023, Susanna will show her work in a second solo show at the Gallery at Green and Stone in 2025.
Susanna has spent part of the past decade studying intensive drawing and painting at selective atelier schools in Italy - the Florence Academy of Art and the Angel Academy of Art.
Robert Maclaurin
Robert Maclaurin (b. 1961) is a Scottish artist who lives and works primarily in Scotland and Australia. Predominantly landscape-based, his initial en plein air paintings and drawings lead to significant works in the studio, capturing the contrasting environments of the Scottish and Australian wilderness.
Robert Maclaurin graduated from Edinburgh College of Art (1983) with a Drawing and Painting BA (Hons) degree and a Post Graduate Diploma with distinction (1984). Since then, his work has been recognised with numerous awards, grants and residencies.
After a Royal Scottish Academy travel scholarship to Italy in 1984, Maclaurin won a Turkish Government Scholarship, painting in Istanbul for 15 months. This experience inspired and informed his work for over 15 years, with many returns to far eastern Anatolia.
In 1993-4, he was awarded the highly prized Durham Cathedral Artist in Residence, living and working a year in the Cathedral community. The following year, in 1995-6, he was awarded a Sir Robert Menzies Fellowship from The University of London. He won an artists residency at The Dunmoochin Foundation, the former home and studio of Clifton Pugh, set in bushland north of Melbourne. John Olsen and Fred Williams had also worked at this location. Using Dunmoochin as a base, Robert painted around Australia for 18 months. He was subsequently awarded a Distinguished Talent Visa and Permanent Residency, enabling him to set up a home and studio in Central Victoria. In 2016 and 2019 he completed an Artist in Residency at Ateliers Höherweg, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Maclaurin’s work of mountainous and arid regions in Turkey, Scotland and Australia has won him critical acclaim and recognition, including first prize in the prestigious Noble Grossart Scottish Painting Award, the James Farrell Self–portrait Painting Prize (Australia) and the Manet Maldon Landscape Prize (Australia), as well as commissions from The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, The Dundee Contemporary Print Centre and the English National Trust.
Today, Maclaurin’s works are held in important public, corporate, and private collections worldwide, with a selection of stand-out solo shows and group exhibitions.
Brooke Fitzsimons
Brooke Fitzsimons (b. Sydney) worked as a graphic designer in magazine production in Sydney for 10 years before she moved to London permanently. She has a BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art (2001) and a Masters in Research in Arts Practice from Chelsea College of Art, London (2013).
After completing her BA, she set up and worked in an artist-run studio and exhibition space in London from 2003 to 2012. She has exhibited in London and Sydney and has paintings in private collections in the UK, Europe and Australia.
Brooke now works at Excelsior Studios in Park Royal, London. She is part of an artist-led team establishing Park Royal Gallery, where the growing community of local artists and makers show in inclusive ‘open’ exhibitions in re-purposed warehouses in this industrial area.
Collecting printed images and photographs she has taken as references, Brooke starts with tonal underpainting, building up the colour and the images with transparent oil paint glazes. The human figure is reduced to a silhouette; linear architectural forms, irregular natural shapes, and luminous colours are all borrowed from and used to represent the beauty of the physical world.
Working in layers with simple images allows her to make wholly new compositions. Her practice is influenced by a former career as a graphic designer in magazine production, knowledge of printing and photographic processes, yet made by hand with the most traditional of mediums - oil paint on linen.
'I deliberately set up formal oppositions: abstract versus figurative; man-made versus natural; hard-edged versus soft-focused. Rather than making the painted surface either abstract (all about the painted surface) or figurative (a 'window' into a three-dimensional space), I aim to make the surface appear to be both at the same time: to provoke a 'play' between the two oppositions: so that abstraction and illusion are held in an oscillation, where neither is dominant. Then the surface becomes an active threshold - an equivocal, playful field.’
(Image Credit, @monicadartphotography)
