Rosalie Gascoigne at Bundanon – quick links
Bundanon has announced a major exhibition of works by acclaimed Australian artist Rosalie Gascoigne will open in the new year, launching the destination gallery’s 2026 season from 7 March – 14 June.
This exciting news follows the announcement on Wednesday (December 17) that Bundanon Trust is one of a small handful of arts institutions to receive a much-needed funding boost – with $1.5 million from the Federal Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook to go towards necessary upgrades to roads and the car park at the Bundanon Homestead site (read more).
Rosalie Gascoigne: Sky, Earth, Water will showcase more than 20 key works Gascoigne’s canon, alongside significant new commissions by leading contemporary First Nations women artists Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Janet Fieldhouse and Glenda Nicholls.
‘Bundanon is delighted to announce our first exhibition for 2026, Rosalie Gascoigne: Sky, Earth, Water, celebrating the work of this respected artist and deepening its connection to place – something Bundanon has an unparalleled capacity to do as a museum immersed in the landscape,’ said Bundanon’s CEO, Rachel Kent, in a statement.
Bundanon and Rosalie Gascoigne: a spiritual match
The new exhibition will explore the artist’s deep connection to the material landscape. Gascoigne’s works evoke massed white clouds, snaking bodies of water, and weathered grey and golden expanses inspired by the wheat fields of the Monaro region of south-eastern New South Wales.
You’d be hard pressed to find a more fitting location to showcase Gascoigne’s life’s work than Bundanon. You’ll find this art destination nestled amongst 1,000 hectares of bush and parkland, overlooking the Shoalhaven River on the South Coast of New South Wales (two and a half hours from Sydney). Bundanon’s purpose-built, world-class Art Museum presents three major exhibition seasons each year, alongside expansive live programs, accommodation and dining experiences.
Bundanon’s pristine natural landscapes and layered environmental history resonate with the subject matter and materiality of Gascoigne’s practice. Sky, Earth, Water seeks to illuminate the ongoing evolution of Gascoigne’s practice, which centred on the resonances between found, industrially-produced materials and the Australian landscape. From smaller experimental studies through to some of her brightest, most iconic works – this major exhibition will showcase her unique, evocative vision.
Rosalie Gascoigne: Sky, Earth, Water will feature more than 20 key works on loan from major institutions including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, Heide Museum of Modern Art, TarraWarra Museum of Art, and from significant private collections.
Rosalie Gascoigne: remembering a true legend of Australian contemporary art
Born in New Zealand and based in Australia, Rosalie Gascoigne developed her practice later in life, and became celebrated for her poetic assemblages made from weathered, found materials – evoking the textures and spirit of rural Australia.
Transforming discarded road signs, timber and domestic remnants into radiant compositions, she captured the light, landscape and lived textures of the Monaro region. After her debut exhibition in the 1970s, she rose to national prominence and went on to be the first woman to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1982. Despite having no formal art training, she became a pioneering figure in Australian contemporary art.
Gascoigne passed away in October of 1999, aged 82-years-old.
Plus, new works from First Nations women artists at Bundanon
The new commissions to be featured alongside Gascoigne’s work – by Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Janet Fieldhouse and Glenda Nicholls – are all created during residencies at Bundanon. Continuing the organisation’s longstanding commitment to site-responsive artmaking, these works reflect the cultural resonance of materials and the stories embedded in place.
‘We are proud to present Gascoigne’s renowned works alongside major new commissions by leading contemporary First Nations artists. Together, these parallel presentations create a powerful dialogue across generations and perspectives, celebrating the enduring role of landscape, memory and material in shaping artistic expression,’ says Rachel Kent.
Nicholls is a Waddi Waddi, Ngarrindjeri and Yorta Yorta artist and master weaver based in the Swan Hill region of Victoria – drawing on her time in residence, she is creating a large-scale new work that responds to Bangli / the Shoalhaven River.
Fieldhouse is a Meriam Mer (Torres Strait) ceramic artist based in Cairns, Queensland – bringing together new and existing works, Fieldhouse’s contribution will focus on the bird life of the Shoalhaven region.
Connelly-Northey was born and raised on the cultural boundaries of the Wamba Wamba and Wadi Wadi peoples in the Swan Hill region of north-western Victoria, and now lives on her mother’s Country, Waradgerie (Wiradjuri) Country in New South Wales. She creates large-scale metal sculptures inspired by Aboriginal fibre bags, also known as bush bags, and at Bundanon, she will create an ambitious installation that is in conversation with the Dharawal and Dhurga stories of place.
Rosalie Gascoigne: Sky, Earth, Water will be presented from 7 March – 14 June, 2026, at Bundanon Art Museum, Illaroo. Find out more at bundanon.com.au.
