Female Wet Specimen 2007 UNSW 2026

On Tuesday 21st I completed a digital collage of aquarelle drawings I had created when an artist invited other artists to the bowels of the UNSW where surgeons trained on human bodies donated to science. There was a strange humour in the department, no doubt to deal with the obvious horror of dealing with human body parts. It was expressed by a head that had been ‘carried’ around the department for a while referred to as the ‘basket case’ as two holes had been cut in either side of the skull to enable it to be carried like a basket. They began the drawing session by bringing out female body parts (one assumes from the same person) incrementally to draw starting with arms, then legs, then torso and head. I think the torso was the most confronting. My collage reflects the dismemberment and the scientific culture our bodies are subjected to. The work will be exhibited on from the 2nd – 12th July at Tiliqua Tiliqua 257 Enmore Rd, Enmore in a show called Paper, Rock, Scissors.

Human Wet Specimen 2007 UNSW 2026 Digital Collage 42 x 59.4 cm $499 unframed

Bundanon Artist and Maker’s Market

Today I participated in BAMM, which was a wonderful experience. I have Virginia Settre to thank for inviting me to participate. A wonderful array of visitors enabled me to share my unusual shroud process, which was well received. Dear old friends (Middlemost) and fellow local artists such as Anna Glynn, Natalie McDonagh and Barbara Dawson also visited. I was also surprised to meet one of my patrons, thank you so much. Thank you also to those who took the time to listen to me talk about my work and the links I make between material and meaning. As a response to the current ecological crisis animals (including the human animal) face, my work is evidence of those lives lost that I encounter as a witness. Works that were well received included Autumn Mullet 2016 – the centre piece for my marine relics hextych. I talked about the taxidermy practice of my father Tibor Barbay, whose posthumous taxidermy retrospective occurred in the very same space I was in – the Boyd Education Centre.

Connections – IAVA exhibition

I joined the Illawarra Association of Visual Artists and this is my first group exhibition with them.

I won the People’s Choice award after being guest speaker about my process journey.

Australian Darter (Deceased Bherwerre 2019) 2025

Today I completed this painting of an Australian Darter found by painter Jonathan Wheeldon deceased by the waters of Bherwerre (St Georges Basin) in 2019. I am exhibiting this piece in the Open Field Salon show Berry, June 13-15 and the Birds of a Feather exhibition at Culburra Beach Common August – September. In 2026, this work will be shown in Visual Reference #6 at the Wollongong City Library from the 18th April – 17th October.

Retrospective Bud’s Tavern

May 3 – May 24

*Wreck Bay Memory* 2006 **$1110** Charcoal, transfer, collage & pastel on paper – framed

*Hill End Residency* 2016 **$550** House paint on canvas board – framed

*Cica & Sally Spectre* 2006 **$1660** Charcoal, transfer, collage & pastel on paper – framed

*Casuarina* 2007 **$810** Aquarelle on paper – framed

*Wiradjuri (Bumpy House)* 2009 **$1270** Ochre & rabbit skin glue on canvas

*White Head of Nebuchadnezzar with Crow (After Boyd)* 2015 **$1040** Ochre and rabbit skin glue on canvas.

*Seated Nebuchadnezzar and Crying Lion (After Boyd)* 2015 **$1040** Ochre and rabbit skin glue on canvas.

*Bumpy House* 2006 **$650** Oil on canvas

Still Life 1992

I am having a retrospective show soon at Bud’s Tavern and have been re-exhibiting some early paintings and drawings. At the Jervis Bay Art Trail today I sold this early still life painted during my BA (Visual Art) at CSU Wagga Wagga. Traditional art forms are still very popular in the community.

Still Life 1992 Oil on canvas SOLD

Haunted Hunt (Autumn Powerful Owl and Rats 2024)2025

I completed this painting today for a group show at the Cambewarra Estate

Recent Works in ‘Death’s Witness’

Ange made a video of my exhibition ‘Death’s Witness’ 2025

Clockwise:

Nocturne (Summer Boobook, Ringtail, Antechinus & Microbat 2019) 2025 bitumen, oil, caput mortuum, silk stitch, rabbit skin glue, boobook, ringtail, antechinus and microbat on canvas 78 x 161cm. $2520

Nocturne (Summer Pigeon 2019) 2025 bitumen, oil, caput mortuum, rabbit skin glue and pigeon on canvas 61 x 36cm. SOLD

Of Mice and Birds (Winter Currawong, Magpie, Kookaburra, and Mice 2012) 2025 bitumen, oil, aquarelle, gesso, rabbit skin glue, currawong, magpie, kookaburra, mice, eucalyptus branches and excrement on canvas 159 x 156 cm. $5060

Shadow Self (Autumn Leather Jacket 2024) 2025

This work is the last piece in my Marine Relics Hextych to be installed in my solo show ‘Death’s Witness’ at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery 15th March – 10th May 2025. Also a finalist in MPCAP 31st October – 23rd November 2025.

Finalist Halloran Art Prize – Time

**We die – does it matter when** 2024. Pipe clay, wattle gum, aquarelle and billabong on paper. 37 x 55 cm **SOLD Halloran Trust**

‘We die – does it matter when’ 2024 continues my personal response to the Halloran collection (HC). Growing up in Vincentia, like my mother before me, I feel a deep sense of belonging shared with Aboriginal friends and mentors. A significant mentor, Uncle Laddie, gifted me the pipeclay featured. This work continues to pay tribute to Laddie’s lifelong work as a cross-cultural teacher and activist based at JBMM.

This parchment was soaked c.12 years ago in the billabong near my childhood home. It is a familial place frequented by my mother’s family. I feel the presence of my Ancestral spirits here. My grandparents, Keith and Gloria Sheehy purchased land from Warren Halloran in c.1955 across from the creek that feeds this billabong. The billabong is located at the port for the original Wool Road, which I now live on. This clock from the HC signifies Warren’s ownership and sale of the land now called Vincentia. The clock and Warren’s face merge with the male figurehead linking to this exploitation of land via sea. The instruments of nautical navigation that measure time in the HC symbolise the colonisation of Jervis Bay.

Colonisation’s impact over time is represented by the Astrolabe crew surveying on Hole in the Wall (now collapsed) and the procession of bullocks carrying bales down The Wool Road (now a constant stream of traffic). Aboriginal figures feature from the HC to symbolise their unbroken connection to Jervis Bay land and sea, and continual presence as traditional custodians. The reference to time from a sailor’s perspective ‘A day less or more/At sea or ashore/We die – does it matter when’ is ironically an extract from a poem called ‘The Revenge’. The Aboriginal Ancestor depicted drinking from a stream in the HC is looking into the transit telescope becoming the star.