Nicholas Burton Nicholas Burton’s visual stories are told through relentless riveting and denting of hard metal into malleable surfaces. Complex patterns appear as detailed ‘braille-like’ etchings in aluminium. Burton’s metallic landscapes draw the essence out of the everyday object and awaken our spiritual connection to the land. SULMAN PRIZE FINALIST 2002 & 2007

Willy Sheather Willy Sheather’s paintings are an exercise in imagination. The landscape surrounding her home, in rural NSW, forms the backdrop to her theatrical interior world. Sheather says of her works: “they reflect my internal space. Some of them are autobiographical – they represent me wrestling with my artistic gift; wanting it to be well used”. EXHIBITED HONG KONG 2007 BLAKE PRIZE FINALIST 1998 TATTERSALL'S PRIZE FINALIST 2000, 2001

Esther Erlich Erlich's style is raw, vital and spontaneous, yet also displays the skill and gloss of a well-seasoned artist of fifteen years standing. It is the brilliant combination of striking, even haunting portrait-like features with the light, grace and somewhat abstract fluidity of her more decorative style that makes her work so inspiring. Be it in the muted haze of a retreating figure, the subtle turn of an outstretched ankle, or the provocative expression of her subject, one cannot help but recognise themselves. Erlich brings us face to face with our own reality, but softens the blow with a hint of froth and bubble. PORTIA GEACH & ARCHIBALD FINALIST 2007

Neil Hicks Prominent Sydney-based artist, Neil Hicks, latest series of paintings explore the theme of the tree as a type of landscape portrait. ART ON THE ROCKS, 2005

Jill Lewis Through the layered negotiation of the canvas surface Lewis’s imagery reveals fragmentary, dream-like, ancient moments that translate into a sense of personal meaning. The viewer is embroiled in a pictorial journey, at once candidly childlike and extraordinarily sophisticated, that is infused with whimsy and humour.

Christopher Lees Opal miner turned landscape painter breathes new life into the art market with his arresting landscapes. At thirty seven, Christopher Lees reflects an authority in his brushstrokes which is evident in his monumental perspectives of the Australian terrain. Lees has travelled extensively throughout remote Australia, working as an opal miner. Now based in rural Victoria, his experiences of the outback unravel on the canvas in panoramic and dioramic form.

Steve Rosendale My intention is to create works of mystery and drama, high contrast and atmosphere. All based on faint memories i have of wandering the city at night in my late teens, memories which become increasingly hazy and romanticized over the years. I will use quite a variety of materials to create a composition - including sketches, personal photographs, film stills, magazine or news clipping; in fact any visual device i stumble across that seems to correspond to the sub-conscious memory. Then from this manufactured reality produce a finished oil painting. Steve Rosendale

Poh Ling Yeow Yeow's recent works place the girl in the traditional terrain of classical chinese paintings as a stranger in the land of her ancestors.

Michaye Boulter "My paintings hark back to a time that lies deep in my psyche. A time where the space around me was entirely ephemeral, flexing, dancing, shimmering. A distant horizon, sea and sky, a world devoid of distracting images. I take this vision and immerse myself in the landscape I now live; South Bruny Island, a place of remote and rugged beauty off the Southern Tasmanian coast." GLOVER PRIZE FINALIST 2004, 2005, 2008

Dayle Bolton Bolton's handsome characters are metaphorically trapped between two worlds: the ideal world of their own creation and the existing reality they inhabit. After graduating from RMIT in 1972 and winning The Myer Award for Illustration, Dayle Bolton worked as a freelance illustrator for major national and International retailers and magazines.

Matthew Cheyne Cheyne's current paintings recharacterise classical mythical figures from a modern perspective. His technically formal work seeks to make the ordinary extraordinary, giving everyday items uncanny powers and symbolic weight.

Naomi White Naomi White draws inspiration from her immediate environment and specific locations which she visits for the purpose of painting. Focusing on elements of light and form White’s stylized realist paintings render eye catching and instantaneous moments which are explored on a deeper level via the medium of oil paint. WYNNE LANDSCAPE PRIZE FINALIST 2008

Luke Wagner Luke Wagner’s haunting utopian vision of the landscape appears back-lit, relying on the artist’s technique of using many delicate veils of oil paint. Darkly painted swathes of pared-down terrain are rich with classical echoes yet the surrealist elements override to unnerve and provoke the viewer to look again. The promise of solitude beckons us to enter these seductively "stripped bare" environments and to search for the spiritual beyond the visual. GLOVER PRIZE FINALIST 2007

Nicholas Daunt Trans-continental abstract painter Nicholas Daunt has enjoyed a fast-paced youth, notably whilst creating multiple U.S shows, then enjoying a successful painting and advertising career in Australia during the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. However after the millennium came a sea-change to the NSW coast, and so with his new-found spiritual approach to a simple life he has created this latest series of large oils on canvas…. works in rhythm with the tides seen from his studio.

Michael Brennan Michael Brennan delights in puzzling the viewer to dizzying effect via extreme perspectives and vertiginous compositions. WYNNE PRIZE FINALIST 2007 METRO ART PRIZE FINALIST 2006 BRETT WHITELEY TRAVELLING SCHOLARSHIP FINALIST 2005

Carlo Golin Melbourne-based artist, Carlo Golin, describes his work as faithful to the ‘Old Masters’ Italian tradition, but his contemporary still life paintings of voluptuous over-sized fruits roll seamlessly into the modern kitchen, beckoning to be devoured.

Anthony Morrison Anthony Morrison's thoughtfully composed paintings explore abstraction through seemingly accidental forms. Translucent glazes, subtle textures and colour varnishes achieve harmonies of colour, shape and form to visually mesmerising effect.

Michael Whitehead Whitehead's style has moved to the creation of large layered abstracts. Each brush stroke challenges the previous one, where oil is pitted against acrylic to create deliberate tension, resistance, and intensity. Whitehead often uses large blocks of colour, layered to capture or reflect light, or a moody palate where the under-painting appears to be attempting to break through to provide a fleeting glimpse of a secret world beneath.

Sally Joubert Mixing urban streetscapes and familiar achitectural iconography, Sally Joubert has re-imagined the urban landscape in her own distinctive style. Featuring her trademark thick strokes and deft use of the palette knife, the artist almost carves the lines onto the canvas. Joubert manages to inject fresh, immediate, and vibrant doses of colour that gives her work its unique vitality.

Jennifer Pinder Jennifer Pinder ensnares the viewer into her sophisticated ‘vortex’ of sticky oil paint. Painted to catch the light at different angles, they generate optical illusions by the very nature of the painted surfaces. Pinder is a remarkably competent colourist. Her work is based on patterns in nature, such as water-surface movements and air current flows across grass.

Jack E. Pemble New works on show in 'Contempo 5', opening February 15 in Brisbane. METRO 5 ART PRIZE FINALIST 2007

Max Kreijn Dutch artist Max Kreijn, who lives the eternal summer both in Sydney and Rome, is a master of the conceptual double-take. His watercolours depicting timeless architectural details have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the globe. Although his paintings may be devoid of people, the human presence is always felt.

Mia Galo Not shy to portray the female form clad or naked, Mia Galo’s vibrant paintings capture the spirit of the independent woman.

Marc & Gillie Schattner Award winning artists, husband and wife team Gillie and Marc Schattner's splattered acrylic paintings on plain primary backdrops are portraits of interesting people and their "comforts" harking back to the graphic homogeny of pop art. The artistic duo were Archibald finalists in 2006 for their portrait of former Olympian John Konrads and his Black Dog. ARCHIBALD FINALISTS 2006

John Hart My work is based on the construction of small paper models that have been photographed and digitally manipulated to isolate the objects within a field of darkness. Strong cross lighting effects and enlargement of scale have been employed to give a sense of drama and strangeness. I want the work to be in some way Iconic. Common objects, such a bottles, have been wrapped in paper as a device to avoid the loaded nature of familiar objects. Other paper objects have been constructed to be “Unfamiliar” allowing the viewer to engage with the object and construct their own meaning.

Michael Muir Michael Muir likes to leave the viewer to interpret the meaning in his paintings. By breaking down the imagery into large shapes and simplified forms, Muir's scientific approach allows for a closer examination of the subject. His paintings document his own observation of people and places yet the sense of detachment allows the viewer to see for themselves.

Sue Anderson "Anderson’s creative eye stretches from the minute to the colossal. Each tiny element is allowed its significance. The paintings, prints and drawings are made first with broad marks and then built upon with smaller and smaller strokes. This method itself suggests the breadth of our field of vision, and the close and far telescopic sight. The landscape is thrown towards the viewer, as if asking for inspection and respect." Extract from article by Marian Crawford.

Jon Denaro Jon Denaro’s sculptural works explore concepts of evolution, science and culture. His organic forms and interlacing structures are evocative of oceanic life and biological patterns. Employing new and recycled metals Denaro’s artworks are rustic; his surfaces are pitted and stripped back to reveal metallic layers and minute details.

Damien Baumgartner Damien Baumgartner investigates the haunting quality of an empty highway as the inspiration for his work. Focusing on the overlooked and the mundane, Baumgartner's roadsides, replete with debris, force a new reading of our urban position. BRETT WHITELEY TRAVELLING SCHOLARSHIP FINALIST 2005 GLOVER FINALIST 2004

Gemma Lynch-Memory Gemma Lynch-Memory's paintings are widely celebrated for their unique engagement with the Australian landscape; a project underscored by a keen sensitivity toward both the land's materiality and its emotive capacity. From 1996 to 2006, the artist has rocketed to national recognition whilst continuing to tease apart her formal and conceptual fascination with the complexities of identity, space and placement.

Jill McFarlane “McFarlane peoples her canvases with seductresses of all shapes and sizes as she explores the concepts of femininity and beauty” - The Sydney Morning Herald