This Summer Showcase brings together painters whose contemporary practices expand from their ancestry, Indigenous roots, and resilience to express unique and radiant bodies of work. Manifestations celebrates the creation of these paintings by powerful women and serves as a precursor to their highly anticipated exhibitions at 8 Wall Gallery in 2026.
Pearl Austin is an Ankirinya Yankunytjatjara woman, respected community leader, educator, and artist. Pearl’s art practice is grounded in her connection to Country and centres around three recurring themes: waterholes, the transformation of the land through rain, and the reflection of sunlight across two states of Country—dry and wet. Her father’s ties to Mabel Creek, along with her lifelong relationship to the Coober Pedy region, further ground her paintings in the textures and stories of desert Country. Through her work, Pearl honours the land, her lineage, and the enduring vitality of her community.
Visaya Hoffie's practice extends her interpretation of ‘expanded painting’ through incorporating sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, design, animation, leatherwork, and a range of craft media. Iconoclastic, irreverent and challenging, her work operates as a visual celebration of the rich complexities and contradictions of our current world. Hoffie’s immersive installations implicate the viewer as an essential and performative element of the work. The spatial realms she creates offer solace and provoke criticality in equal measures. Hoffie’s reflections on our contemporary cultural landscape are as informed by traditional historical references as they are by her fascination with the margins of contemporary culture. The artist’s idiosyncratic, hybridised, boot-legged characters relate to throw-away images from advertising, click-bait and the fringes of the internet. These motifs often inhabit strangely familiar relationships where traditional hierarchies of aesthetic taste falter and transform.
Carla Uriarte is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice focuses on painting, design, writing and video. Carla’s sporadic nature has caused her to cross paths with many sides of herself causing an exploration of themes such as evolution, ancestry, motherhood, and connection. Her work's main objective is to externalise internal emotions, allowing the viewer to feel a sense of belonging, comfort and camaraderie within their own journey.
Jillian Williams is a long term local of Coober Pedy, having grown up in the outback town. Inspired by watching her family members throughout Australia painting as she grew up, Jillian began experimenting with various styles and techniques. With a love towards vibrant and bright colours, her paintings depict the surrounding Australian country and the beauty found within the rains, flowers and seasonal changes. Having joined the Umoona Art Centre in July of 2024, Jillian continues to evolve and explore her creative visions.
