Ideation features the works of Anastazia Bobis, Zephyr Larkin, and Rachel Rutt, each exploring themes of unrestricted form and the solitude of making. Bobis’s multimedia pieces reflect her fascination with identity and memory, capturing moments of human connection while navigating the tension between observation and empathy. Larkin’s Lino-cut prints transport viewers to surreal realms, revealing how personal values evolve through creativity. Meanwhile, Rutt’s textile weavings emulate pathways of migration, addressing themes of alienation and belonging through organic materials.

Anastazia Bobis

"My work is a reflection of the way I process and respond to the world around me. I am deeply intrigued by human psychology and identity, particularly how experiences, habits, and clothing shape the characters we project. This curiosity drives my creative process, allowing me to peel back the layers of persona we construct in everyday life.

I often navigate cycles of intense emotional and creative highs and lows, with the studio serving as my sanctuary—a place where I can distill my experiences into something tangible. Recently, a significant life event shifted the focus of my work, positioning me as a silent observer. In a world increasingly diminished by surveillance and online exposure, I document people with a deep respect for their personal space. Whether capturing them during mundane moments or recalling encounters from memory I explore the tension between voyeurism and observation.

My practice examines how human behaviour, clothing, and routines contribute to identity, adding layers of complexity to the everyday. By navigating the boundaries between observation and intrusion, my work honours the beauty of isolation and connection, reflecting the intricate realities of contemporary life."

Anastazia Bobis a multimedia artist based in Paris, born in Canberra, Australia, to Polish parents. She attended a French immersion school, where her artistic journey began at the age of four, nurtured by her mother’s encouragement to draw. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the National Art School (NAS) in Sydney, Anastazia’s work evolved into an exploration of identity, memory, and the solitude within the human spirit.

Through various mediums, she documents human encounters primarily in painting and sculpture. Her work oscillates between harmony and chaos, mirroring the fluctuations of human emotion, and reveals the intricate layers that shape our perceptions of ourselves and the world.

Zephyr Larkin

Zephyr Larkin Artist statement: "Value is an individual experience. 'Previous Ghost' is the culmination of personal values and the ongoing relationship to them. Music, technology, patience, dreams and people. 'Previous Ghost' is a reminder that what holds value is not static for any individual, it is an uncertain existence that needs context. Some value is found because it is not often experienced, other value is defined by recurring experiences. This body of work presents a renewed viewpoint, integrating familiar routines with evolving values.'

The works were made by Zephyr Larkin over 2 years between an Enjay etching press and an Eickhoff letter press.

Rachel Rutt

Rachel Rutt’s (b.1990) work observes humanity’s instinct for the nomadic and migratory, polarised against outcomes of alienation and isolation borne innate tocthe experience of Diaspora. Assimilation and adaptation, strained by the necessity of refuge, unearth a hunger for existence exceeding mere survival. Can the process of evolution redefine belonging? Does the landscape transform in response? This catalyst is the subject of Rutt’s curiosity.

Comprised of woven mediums, whose warp and weft are manipulated to emulate the pathways of physical migration, the interplay of colliding worlds, chance, harmony, and adaptive reaction, Rutt’s work pays homage to both personal and shared experiences of Diaspora through the universal mechanism of weaving.
Silken transparencies provoke memories and interpret history, conveying rhythm persistent in spite of chaos.
Rutt was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Taiwan and Japan before immigrating to Australia in 2005. In 2013 and 2014 she studied hand weaving at the Hand Weaver’s and Spinners Guild of NSW and has since practiced as an emerging artist.

Spirit finds Dean De Landre and Jarryd Lynagh looking back. Gazing into reflections of the past and dwelling upon the nature of visual story telling. In defiance of the leviathan of contemporary digital imagery, De Landre and Lynagh wield analogue source material to manipulate, to reduce and to isolate. An attempt to separate the layers of how visual culture may wash over us and expose its deceptions. The works in Spirit betray the powers of image based narratives, they are reductive and primordial and seek to plunge one into the depths of a moment unfolding, with no knowledge of what lays on the other side, or what has preceded it.

Dean De Landre, a Victorian based painter, utilises found illustrations predominantly in the form of comic book cells. Altering these cells, De Landre reduces the palettes and textures into dynamic black line work and forms on a monochromatic background. Cells of explosions contain vast dynamism, barely capable of containing the energy within. Conversely, others ripple in tranquility and stillness, moments of nuance detail, quietly pausing to comb through what the images are trying to convey to us outside of the main explanatory vessel of text.

Putting forth the supposition that any collection of photographs is an exercise in surrealist montage, Jarryd Lynagh rehabilitates lost images into an allusory narrative. Photographs possess the magic of the real, their ability to harness the edifice of reality, or at least its surface can provide a false sense of security, an intrinsic trust. Merely by the nature of being presented together, the machinations of visual story telling are exposed. The photographs belong to a set of found images Lynagh has been collating for the past decade. The images yield and abstract pastness, unmoored by the passage time. The pictures, they lie.

De Landre and Lynagh are united in their Spirit, as makers and as old friends.

China Heights, in collaboration with Louis Vuitton Brisbane, presents an extraordinary two-person exhibition featuring the recent works of US artists Alex Knost and Lena Gustafson. Let's delve into the unique artistic offerings of each:

Alex Knost: An artist, musician, and surfer, Alex Knost's creative journey has traversed the boundaries of surfing's subculture for over a decade. Much like his innovative surfing techniques, Knost's artworks challenge conventional notions of texture, color, and artistic form. His recent exhibition, 'Adamant about an Abstract Cabinet,' alongside 'Distorted Guitars,' unveils a captivating blend of visual expressionism that echoes his storied influences and personal ethos.

Knost's adept navigation of abstraction defies tradition, inviting viewers into a realm where the lines between medium and message blur into a harmonious symphony of color and texture. His canvases, adorned with layers of acrylic and oil paint, exude an ethereal luminescence, each stroke a testament to his mastery of craft and unwavering commitment to artistic integrity. Rooted in a deep reverence for the natural world and informed by his passion for surfing, Knost's art transcends mere aesthetics, offering profound meditations on the interconnectedness of humanity and the cosmos.

In 'Distorted Guitars,' Knost's imaginative techniques blend photography and visual distortion to breathe new life into his beloved collection of guitars. His diverse musical ventures, from Japanese Motors to Glitterbust with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, infuse his artistic expression with a rich tapestry of sound and vision.

Lena Gustafson: 'Midnight Hour' represents a bold exploration of transformation, sequential evolution, and corporal systems within Lena Gustafson's painting practice. Inspired by her experiences with open water swimming and the depths of the San Francisco Bay, Gustafson's exhibition delves into the abstraction of ideas and intrusive thoughts that emerge in the dark midnight hours. Symbols of swimming and swim gear serve as both catalysts for transformation and restraints on the human psyche.

Drawing from her native San Francisco Bay Area's artistic legacy, Gustafson's work resonates with the influences of artists like Margaret Kilgallen, Etel Adnan, and Miyoko Ito. Her application of paint in flat opaque layers, honed through her experience with screen printing, lends a unique depth to her compositions. 'Midnight Hour' offers viewers a glimpse into the hidden depths of the human psyche, articulating abstracted visions and exposing anxieties and fears lurking in the darkness of the sea, the night, and the mind.

As Gustafson continues to expand her artistic horizons, her exhibitions serve as poignant reflections of her ongoing journey through the complexities of transformation and self-discovery.

Together, Knost and Gustafson's exhibitions promise a captivating exploration of artistic innovation and introspection, inviting viewers to embark on a journey through the multifaceted realms of contemporary art.