Heather B Swann – quick links
Celebrated for her surreal and mesmerising imagery, Heather B Swann, at 64, will present The Forests of Symbols, an $80,000 Copyright Agency Partnerships Commission, at UNSW Galleries in Sydney next year.
The new project brings together the artist’s works in sculpture, painting and drawing, and is conceived as the first in a final series to be completed during her lifetime.
Heather B Swann’s forests of symbols
The poetic exhibition title is a metaphor for how Swann experiences the world, as well as a reminder of the collective symbols that shape cultural memory.
She explains, ‘The Forests of Symbols is an umbrella for what I have made and what I will make. My work is situated deep inside my nervous system, and I see the world “feelingly”.
‘Floating around in a metaphorical forest of symbols searching for the pathos in things, I am a leaf in the wind, a daydreamer. There are too many meanings to make sense in here; the day breaks and the night falls, someone is shooting the breeze, and I hear a faint line singing that this whole wide world is longing for beauty.’
Beauty might not be the first thing that comes to mind when encountering Swann’s works, many of which feature contorted and unnatural human forms, oftentimes female. But alongside the uncanniness there is something sublime and fantastical about her sculptures and imagery, and the power of her art to leave a lasting impression in one’s mind.
An ambitious new undertaking
UNSW Galleries Director José Da Silva, who previously curated the artist’s works into the 2024 Adelaide Biennial, says this new commission will see the artist work ‘on an ambitious scale previously unseen’.
He comments, ‘Heather creates installations that are potent and full of sensuous atmosphere. She reminds us of the allegorical and metaphorical potential of objects and images.’
The Forests of Symbols is supported by CAP’s major commissions series for mid-career and established artists, in partnership with cultural organisations including UNSW Galleries, ACCA, IMA, PICA and more.
The Forests of Symbols will open 4 September to 22 November 2026 at UNSW Galleries, Sydney
Also on ArtsHub: Archie Moore: kith and kin at GOMA offers solemn testimony
On Saturday 27 September 2025, kith and kin, created by Archie Moore and curated by Ellie Buttrose, opened at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane.
In poured art enthusiasts, keen to post in the presence the first Australian artwork to be awarded a prestigious Golden Lion at a Venice Biennale. That this pride of a nation explicates a brutal oppression of the artist’s friends and family is no small irony.
Longterm observers of Moore’s practice will attest that few elements of his installations are incidental.
kith and kin: Moore’s steady hand
For kith and kin, Moore has exercised a steady hand. His writing on the wall endeavours to represent 2,400 generations of his ancestors spanning over a 65,000-year period.
In the past, he has used blackboards to signify the subtexts of subordination inculcated through formal schooling. Names were sourced from an array of archives, from burial registers to police memorandums.
These include offensive classifiers. ‘Gin’, for example, is a euphemism for a compromised First Nations woman. His subjects are humanised through this choice of medium. The sprawling family tree is primarily a homage to his maternal Kamilaori and Bigambul heritage. A small sprig acknowledges the arrival of his paternal Scottish great great grandfather as a 16-year-old convict.
kith and kin: time to adjust
Upon entering the gallery, it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust. They might then be drawn to the largest of three celestial voids in the luminous text landscape. Chalk is a type of limestone, which reflects light.
