We are delighted to share that Jane Guthleben has been named a finalist in the prestigious 2025 Calleen Art Award. Presented by Cowra Regional Art Gallery, the award encourages originality, creativity and excellence in the visual arts and has been a key cultural event in regional NSW since its founding in 1977.
Guthleben’s finalist work, ‘Semi-Arid Bouquet, after the Goats’, was inspired by a recent trip through Western NSW. “We soon noticed a thriving feral goat population, and the damage they cause. They vastly outnumber wildlife and decimate native vegetation. My large-scale floral arrangements tap into the symbolism of Dutch Golden Age painting, where flora symbolises morality and the brevity of life. I imagined a large bouquet of outback flora set upon by goats – perched on every limb, consuming every petal, leaf and stem – with bare hills in the background hinting at their devastation.”
The finalists’ exhibition will be on view at Cowra Regional Art Gallery from 31 August – 5 October 2025.
IMAGE:
Jane Guthleben at the Calleen Art Award with her painting 'Semi-Arid Bouquet, after the Goats' 2025