Exhibitions Hannah Quinlivan Bound by the Sky 20th May 2025 - 14th June 2025

This exhibition is part of Melbourne Design Week 2025, an initiative of the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

DOWNLOAD EXHIBITION CATALOGUE

EXHIBITION OPENING PARTY
Meet the artist and celebrate with us at the exhibition opening party on Saturday 24 May 2025, 1 - 3pm

Light refreshments provided. We look forward to seeing you there.

RSVP appreciated

ARTIST STATEMENT

This body of work explores the profound yet often unspoken connection we all share beneath the expanse of the sky. The title, Bound by the Sky, operates as a framework through which I examine the interplay of human interconnectedness and environmental fragility. This is not merely an observation of physical reality—that the sky is a literally envelopes us all. Nor is it solely a metaphysical notion. Instead, it is an exploration of our shared condition, inextricably tied to the ecological and political realities of our time.

The sky, a symbol of boundlessness, now embodies the weight of our uneven accountability. In this work, it becomes a site of convergence, not only in its beauty and vastness but also as a repository of human impact. The atmosphere, once a space of awe and wonder, now holds the traces of pollution and environmental degradation—marks of an unfairly shared culpability and interconnected fate. Through this lens, the sky is both a unifying force and a reminder of the urgent entanglement of our futures.

This series draws on Australian landscapes and skies, whose vastness and clarity hold an enduring influence on my practice. Yet the connection it proposes transcends geographic specificity, reflecting on global interdependence. Through this work, I seek to create a space where beauty and urgency coexist, encouraging audiences to reflect on the tenuous yet profound ties that bind us all beneath the sky.

CATALOGUE ESSAY BY DEBORAH CLARK

Last year when I opened an exhibition of Hannah’s work in Canberra, at Grainger Gallery, I noted that although she had not exhibited in a gallery in her home town for some years her marvellous art has been widely experienced by Canberrans across the city – even if they didn’t know her name.

Each day Canberra commuters travel on the light rail they see Hannah’s delicious large tracery drawings on glass which feature on all thirteen rail stops (Intersections). Her art is now woven into our urban experience and has lit up the city in public displays since her graduation just over a decade ago: digital light projections on the historic Sydney and Melbourne buildings in the Enlighten Festival (2019); the sinuous Shroud suspended above Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra’s contemporary biennial Contour556 (2020); in installations at the National Portrait Gallery, and the Canberra Museum and Gallery’s glass-walled space on Civic Square (2017); and her recently unveiled 36 metre long sculpture Life force which commands the main corridor and stairwell of Canberra Hospital’s new Critical Services Building. Hannah also recently won the commission for a major signature work at the National Arboretum of Canberra, Drawing breath, which will be sited in the large front dam near the Arboretum entrance, where its folded cloudlike form will transform the gateway space.

Hannah has lit up other cities and towns too – with substantial public art commissions in Sydney and Brisbane, and participation in a myriad of exhibitions nationally and internationally: in Berlin, Cambridge, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, France, and in the Pilbara. Since she graduated in 2013 from the ANU School of Art she has been incredibly productive with a purposeful focus on the development of her practice. Her art is continually evolving, and the sense of movement and dynamism in the work is mirrored in the way she pushes her practice forward, working seamlessly across a variety of disciplines and modes of making: graphic traditions, sculpture, weaving, metalwork etc.

At the heart of Hannah’s art is drawing; when she makes sculpture she is drawing in space – with aluminium, wire, acrylic, salt, LED lights – and creating a kind of cosmic architecture.

With these sometimes unlikely materials Hannah’s art is so finely crafted, refined in its making and in its attention to detail – to line and form and heft, and to the craft of making. In this craft of making she’s joined the ranks for me of some of this country’s most imaginative contemporary artists who work across mediums and disciplines and share an extraordinary – almost obsessive – attention to detail: artists such as Fiona Hall, Rosslynd Piggott and eX deMedici.

Grounded in traditional techniques of making such as the repetitive work of knotting, Hannah’s practice is highly inventive, and dynamic rather than static – the pulsing movement within individual works suggests their relationship to universal natural forces. Standing with one of her large sculptural installations one has the sensation of liquid movement, the flow of time and tide and the cycle of expiration and regeneration.

Being taken into one of Hannah’s labyrinthine works of art is a cognitive journey into its abstract material form and the spaces created within and around the work, which become spaces of the imagination, where you feel a connection across the cosmos, and the endless possibilities of all kinds of connections and interconnections. Her intriguing, ambitious, powerful and fearless art never stops making you think, as well as feel.

Deborah Clark
2025

Canberra-based artist-maker Hannah Quinlivan is well known for her expansive, intricately woven installations. Using industrial, ubiquitous material such perspex, rubber, aluminium, and steel her undulating, interconnected forms transform urban spaces into dynamic, contemplative environments. Created through processes of manual manipulation and mechanical interventions her sculptural forms function as complex, multifaceted three-dimensional drawings. Evoking ideas of fragility and resilience, patience and contemplation, Quinlivan’s work blurs the boundaries between fine art, design, and architecture - their complex multimedia structures being rich in texture, light and shadow.

Bound by the Sky explores humanity’s profound yet understated connections to the natural world, focusing on the fragile interplay between human activity and environmental stability. As a motif the sky is a symbol of boundlessness, but also a site that bears the weight of human accountability. The exhibition aims to serve as both a unifying force and a stark reminder of our shared ecological and political realities. Through this lens, Quinlivan’s work is neither purely observational nor solely metaphysical. It delves into our collective condition, highlighting the urgency of addressing environmental fragility and human interconnectedness in the face of our interwoven futures.

Combining industrial design processes of cutting and forming with dexterous, manual processes of hand-threading, knitting, and weaving, Quinlivan creates immersive, atmospheric works that embody the vast beauty of the atmosphere and its burden as a repository of human impact.

A series of sculptural installation are suspended from the gallery ceiling, interrupting the boundaries between space and form. Emitting light, casting shadows, and creating a softening of architectural boundaries, her works invite viewers into a series of organic, fluid environments. Wall-mounted works will also be present, traversing the hard lines of constructed spaces. By integrating these forms into the built environment, Quinlivan reimagines the urban as something organic, interdependant and transformational.

By transforming industrial materials into organic, immersive forms, Quinlivan’s work challenges conventional notions of materiality and space, encouraging reflection on the fragile ties that bind us all.

This exhibition underscores the importance of ecological responsibility within the context of urban design and environmental sensitivity. Quinlivan’s practice mirrors the challenges faced by architects and designers as they navigate material choices and spatial planning while grappling with issues of sustainability. Her works serve as both a meditation on beauty and a call to action, urging viewers to consider the atmospheric and environmental impact of human activity.

Through her installations, Quinlivan highlights the sky as both an expansive symbol of unity and a repository of human impact. Her work draws attention to how our built environments contribute to or mitigate environmental degradation, inviting audiences to reflect on their role in shaping a more sustainable future. Engaging within the wider discourse of Melbourne Design Week, the exhibition aims to reach architects, designers, and the broader community, promoting an ethos of accountability and ecological awareness that balances aesthetic beauty with urgent environmental design considerations.

Bound by the Sky ultimately seeks to create a space where beauty, urgency, and accountability converge. It invites audiences to contemplate the interconnectedness of their own lives with the natural world and to reimagine the possibilities of thoughtful, sustainable design in addressing our collective ecological challenges.

HANNAH QUINLIVAN PROFILE
DOWNLOAD BIO / CV (PDF)

Hannah Quinlivan
Bound by the Sky I 2025
Anodised aluminium and rubber
100cm x 152cm x 15cm
$8,000 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
Bound by the Sky II 2025
Anodised aluminium and rubber
133cm x 160cm x 12cm
$10,500 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
Bound by the Sky III 2025
Anodised aluminium and rubber
105cm x 125cm x 15cm
$7,000 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
Atmospheric Thread 2025
Anodised aluminium, acrylic and LED light
134cm x 261cm x 15cm
Sold
Sold

Hannah Quinlivan
Breath Between Us I 2025
Powder coated aluminium, anodised aluminium wire and rubber
57cm x 40cm x 18cm
$2,750 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
Breath Between Us II 2025
Powder coated aluminium, anodised aluminium wire and rubber
49cm x 38cm x 20cm
$2,500 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
The Breath Between Us III 2025
Powder coated aluminium, anodised aluminium wire and rubber
40cm x 60cm x 28cm
$2,750 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
Cloudborne I 2025
Powder coated aluminium and anodised aluminium wire
73cm x 60cm x 15cm
Sold
Sold

Hannah Quinlivan
Cloudborne II 2025
Powder coated aluminium and anodised aluminium wire
80cm x 65cm x 20cm
Reserved

Hannah Quinlivan
What the Wind Remembers I 2025
Aluminium tape, aluminium wire and LED light
105cm x 46cm x 40cm
$5,300 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
What the Wind Remembers II 2025
Aluminium tape, aluminium wire and LED light
154cm x 48cm x 44cm
$7,800 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
What the Wind Remembers III 2025
Aluminium tape, aluminium wire and LED light
187cm x 42cm x 45cm
$8,350 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
Drift Logic I 2025
Powder coated aluminium
90cm x 70cm x 15cm
$4,000 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
Drift Logic II 2025
Powder coated aluminium
87cm x 85cm x 15cm
$4,500 AUD

Hannah Quinlivan
Drift Logic III 2025
Powder coated aluminium
85cm x 90cm x 15cm
$4,900 AUD