Mother Island

17 October - 5 December 2026

In Mother Island, a new exhibition at The University of Western Australia's Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, contemporary Australian artists Susan Flavell, Louise Monte and Olga Cironis transform everyday materials into powerful explorations of memory, identity, migration and maternal inheritance.

Curated by Paola Anselmi, Mother Island brings together three distinct artistic practices that share a deep engagement with storytelling through material. Across sculpture, installation and textile-based works, the artists examine the bonds that connect us to people, places and histories, while reflecting on the ways culture, memory and care are passed between generations. The exhibition proposes the idea of the "mother island" as a site of origin, belonging and protection, but also a space from which we must sometimes depart in order to define our own identities.

Image: Olga Cironis, Time will come (detail), 2026, child’s rocking chair, camouflage fabric, Greek rug and ceramic sparrows, dimensions variable, photo: Robert Frith, © the artist