WINTER, A Gathering in the Quiet Season
Friday night marked the opening of WINTER at Romulus Folio Gallery. While the season may have suggested hibernation, there was nothing cold about the night we shared.
We were joined by guests from the Décor + Design Show, residents of The Gladstone, emerging artists, collectors, and many familiar faces from past exhibitions and workshops. This growing mix of creatives and supporters is becoming a quiet kind of community, one rooted in care, conversation, and the transformative presence of art.
For the second month now, and going forward, we share our monthly exhibition opening evening with The Gladstone residents monthly social night. There’s something deeply meaningful about exhibiting in a space that isn’t separate from life, but part of it. The art lives among people, and it reflects the textures of the lives being lived around it. We are part of each others story and processes. Their feedback, conversations and stories often inspire the ideas, themes and concepts behind work I make alongside it.
The WINTER series came out of stillness. It was made in the quieter months, not a season of absence, but one of quiet reckoning and gentle becoming. These works are layered, reworked, often painted over earlier pieces made during times of rupture. The past hasn’t been erased, it breathes beneath the surface. What has changed is the energy and perception: what was once pain has moved into presence and perspective beyond the initial rupture.
One of the most special aspects of this exhibition is the inclusion of artworks made during our in-gallery workshops. These pieces, created by emerging artists, including my brother, and community participants, offer another kind of depth: the courage of process, the trust in experimentation. It’s a privilege to exhibit them alongside my own work and to witness the stories they carry.
As always, I’m grateful for the support of my family, to my mum for her now famously good Italian donuts, and to my dad, who brings such artistry and care to the food we share. These seemingly small details; the way the room smells, the warmth of a greeting, the shared laughter, are part of the art experience too. They remind us that creativity doesn’t just live on the wall. It lives in how we gather, how we hold space for each other, and how we stay open to transformation.
The art brings us together, but it’s never just about the art. It gives us something to gather around, something to feel and reflect through. Conversations often start in front of a painting and flow outward, into memory, into story, into connection.
As time goes on, we’re learning more about the role art plays in people’s lives and interiors — not just aesthetically, but emotionally. It becomes part of how people process, reflect, and reconnect with parts of themselves. I think that’s especially true in winter — when the world outside becomes quiet, and the inner season comes to the surface.
WINTER is on view at Romulus Folio Gallery until August 5. If you find yourself needing a moment of stillness, reflection, or simply a soft place to land — this exhibition was made for that.
Thank you to everyone who came, supported, shared, and helped make the opening night such a generous, heartfelt experience.
We look forward to what continues to grow here.
WINTER
On view until August 5, 2025
Romulus Folio Gallery | 15–85 Gladstone Street, South Melbourne
Wed–Fri 12–7pm | Sat–Sun 2–5pm | or by appointment
Free entry