inflorescence

Australian Galleries, Paddington

March 17 - April 04, 2026

I have been surrounded by ideas about flowers: blooms, blossom, buds, meadows, posies, garlands. As I worked on a series of oil and ink paintings, I was searching for a link. Inflorescence is the word that holds this exhibition together as it gently evokes atmospheric images of plants and flowers.

This exhibition is all about flowering; sometimes seen clearly, other times softly blurred, half-glimpsed. Wattle, bell flowers, orchids, flannel flowers and orchids emerge richly coloured alongside plants drawn from Sydney, Skiathos, Paris and the coastline of Bali.

In my studio, I created a suite of oil paintings; layer by layer using traditional techniques so colours merge, deepen and glow. These works encapsulate fleeting moments of beauty found in the natural world.

Accompanying the paintings are ink drawings, offering an immediate, intimate perspective. Drawing sits at the heart of my practice and olive-green ink has been my chosen media for working directly in the landscape. In May 2025, I arrived in Paris as spring was coming to life. Staying within walking distance of the abundant gardens of the Tuileries and Palais Royal, I set out with drawing board and ink in hand making small sketches, inspired by these gardens. Later in the year I became captivated by the entangled lines of mangrove branches and roots in a remote part of Bali, resulting in a suite of dynamic ink paintings on paper-canvas.

Together, these paintings and drawings trace a sustained attention to flowering, a meditation on nature, its bounty and beauty.

Jennifer Keeler-Milne, 2026