The ancients thought our eyes allowed us to see by casting a gentle fire upon the world. In the eleventh century, Ibn al-Haytham flipped the script, saying light comes from outside and enters the eye. Real heads know it’s both. Look hard enough—step forward or back—and what’s before you becomes fractal: forms and meanings endlessly dissolve, percolate and reappear, filtered through our own projections.

Dean De Landre’s new work captures the energy and ambiguity of this interchange. Viewers are pitched into bewilderingly dense greenery—is that a branch of quivering leaves, or a dragonfly poised for flight?—and then zoomed out to cinematic third-person stills with a sense of the uncanny.

These scenes, alternately painted or recreated with plastic beads, confound what counts as real. The world has always been mutable and porous, impossible to fix in place. In this exhibition, the renditions themselves flicker as if by candlelight; each flutter of one’s eye alighting upon a new impression. Text by Nathan Mifsud

I head to the supermarket, the CarPlay interface emblazoned with WAVE OF MUTILATION by the Pixies. The title of the song undermines the pleasure of the music with visions of conflict—victims of war strewn across rubble.

The bitumen ahead is subtly imbued with political rhetoric: LEFT LANE ENDS, MERGE RIGHT.

Now in Aisle 6, packets of WIZZ FIZZ spark early childhood memories of swimming under the shadow of Luna Park, sun-soaked and sucking on a plastic spoon filled with sherbet. Over to Aisle 12, cleaning products promise to REMOVE ALL STAINS. How marvellous—all regrets just washed away.

Bike out, I pump my tyres in readiness for riding, their black rubber embossed with DO NOT OVER-INFLATE, an always helpful reminder to keep one’s ego in check.

Riding home, I pass a piece of discarded cardboard, its printed matter reading: BASIC LIFE SUPPORT — air, water, food, work, love.

As I near my destination, a local church sign declares: FREE TRIP TO HEAVEN. Ironically, my thoughts turn straight to suicide, an action not commonly rewarded with eternal salvation.

For the past 12 months, Chris Town has obsessively filled small, spiral-bound notepads with words he encounters daily— always seen, never heard.

The resulting works, composed of layered text, represent the constant barrage of information we face and the cognitive overload we subconsciously sift through. By editing these collected words and presenting them as singular statements—later repainted and reformatted—Town imbues them with new, personal meaning. This process involves reframing both the semantic intent and the visual representation of specific word combinations, offering new ways of perceiving language. This exhibition serves as a record of those words: what they mean to the artist, and what they may mean to you.

An exhibition bringing together paintings by artists from Iwantja Arts, Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association, Munupi Arts & Crafts Association, Papunya Tjupi Arts, Papunya Tula Artists and Warakurna Artists. Spanning the deserts of Central Australia to the Tiwi Islands, the exhibition presents a survey of First Nations painting through the distinct practices of some of Australia's leading Aboriginal-owned art centres.

The Art Centres:

Iwantja Arts (APY Lands, SA)
Located in the APY Lands and established in the early 1980s, Iwantja supports over 40 Yankunytjatjara artists through painting, experimental media, and collaborative film projects like NEVER STOP RIDING. Featured artists Rosalind Tjanyari and Sallyanne Roberts exemplify the centre's innovative cultural strength, translating ancient Tjukurpa into bold contemporary works that celebrate Anangu artistic excellence.

Jilamara Arts and Crafts (Milikapiti, Tiwi Islands)
Based in Milikapiti on Melville Island, Jilamara translates ceremonial ochre body markings ("Jilamara") onto canvas, silk, and digital media. As the cultural hub of the Tiwi community, it supports around 60 artists whose works are held in major collections worldwide. Featured artist Jacinta Lorenzo carries this dynamic tradition forward, reimagining sacred clan totems and Tiwi creation stories with a vibrant contemporary palette.

Munupi Arts & Crafts Association (Tiwi Islands)
Formed in 1990 at Pirlangimpi on Melville Island, Munupi is the youngest Tiwi Islands art centre, providing vital space for cultural pride, employment, and artistic expression through ochre painting. This exhibition showcases six exceptional Munupi artists: Andre (Andrea) Tipungwuti, Christine Puruntatameri, Declan Apuatimi, Josephine Burak, Thecla (Bernadette) Puruntatameri, and Theresa Burak. Their ochre canvases vividly depict Kulama ceremonies, Tutini (ceremonial carvings), and seasonal Tiwi narratives.

Papunya Tjupi Arts (Alice Springs, NT)
Based in Papunya, the birthplace of the Western Desert movement, Papunya Tjupi (est. 2007) supports 150 artists carrying on their forefathers' legacy through strong line‑work and evolving storytelling. The centre keeps culture strong through intergenerational teaching of knowledge. Featured artist Keanu Nelson Tjakamarra represents this new generation, powerfully connecting ancestral narratives to the distinctive Papunya style.

Papunya Tula Artists (Western Desert, NT/WA)
Originating from Geoffrey Bardon's 1971 school‑mural project, Papunya Tula is the historic foundation of the Western Desert art movement. Now representing around 120 Pintupi and Luritja artists, it remains wholly Indigenous‑owned. Featured artists Kathleen Nampitjinpa and Melissa Nungurrayi continue this profound legacy, producing works of deep cultural significance that define the movement's enduring brilliance.

Warakurna Artists (Ngaanyatjarra Lands, WA)
Established in 2005 in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia, Warakurna Artists is an energetic community enterprise preserving local Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) through expressive contemporary painting. Beyond the studio, it facilitates trips on Country and supports local employment. Featured artist Elaine Lane embodies the centre's distinctive Western Desert style, channelling deep Ngaanyatjarra cultural heritage and traditional narratives onto canvas.