This project was developed for the immersive children’s art space at Latrobe Regional Gallery known as “The Lane.” glasshouse was a gentle, light-filled space taking the appearance of a garden glasshouse and reflecting themes of care and cultivation.

 

Just as a glasshouse provides warmth and protection to help seedlings grow, this space was imagined as a nurturing environment where young minds could take root and flourish. Taking children and adults alike on a journey to explore growth, environmental observation and connection through creative play, a series of activities were designed to undertake in the space, encouraging slowing down, looking closely and engaging creatively with natural forms, materials and ideas. Children could participate in celebrating the beauty of plant life and the joy of collective making through a range of activities, including:

 

• A collaboratively evolving botanical drawing, where children could add their own marks to a large-scale garden-inspired artwork.

• Leaf-making using recycled materials, contributing to a growing vine installation that transformed over time with each participant.

• An observation station, inviting close inspection of pressed flora on a light table; an activity fostering quiet, focused looking.

• Plant drawings and colouring, translating real-life or imagined greenery into expressive visual forms.

• Materials for imaginative play, allowing children to invent their own narratives within the space.

 

My intention for this space was to prioritise process over outcome and celebrate the natural curiosity children bring to the world around them. It also offered a space for intergenerational connection, the slow unfolding of ideas and building foundational ways of seeing which are attentive, empathetic and full of wonder.

 

The exhibitions which inspired glasshouse were Observatorium – solo exhibition by Josephine Jakobi, and In our own time, both of which were also curated by Gabriella Duffy in addition to this space.
Senior install technician: Christopher Miller
Technician: Michelle Prezioso