Fantastic Forms is a vibrant, abundant and joyful exhibition that celebrates the creativity of the human imagination, inviting three contemporary artists to respond to Merric Boyd’s work in the Bundanon Collection.
Touring nationally from 2025 to 2028, the exhibition will travel to galleries across Australia.
Artists
Merric Boyd
Considered Australia’s first studio potter, Merric Boyd began working with clay in 1910 when the medium was not widely used. Alongside pottery, drawing formed the backbone of his practice from an early age. Boyd’s creative philosophy shaped the lives of his five children, Lucy, Arthur, Guy, David and Mary, all of whom became artists in their own rights.
Nabilah Nordin
Nabilah Nordin is a Singaporean/Australian sculptor whose practice ‘unlearns’ correct methods and techniques to maintain a state of conscious naïveté. Interested in material invention, her installations embrace wonky craftwork, playfully celebrating the visceral and anthropomorphic qualities of materials in concert with community engaged performative practices.
Stephen Benwell
In his paintings, ceramics and bronzes, Benwell both references and challenges classical forms, presenting fragments of full statues, suggestive of archaeological finds, alongside busts and statues of the male nude. Benwell’s distinct style continues his contemporary perspective on traditions of beauty, and other art-historical influences.
Rubyrose Bancroft
Rubyrose Bancroft is an emerging Bundjalung artist based in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. Bancroft is a trained ceramist who began experimenting with plasticine claymation at home during lockdown. Her work in fantastic forms uses humour and escapism whilst exploring biblical and cosmic themes.
Ipswich Art Gallery
Ipswich, Queensland
14 June – 7 September 2025
Ipswich Art Gallery Website
John Curtin Gallery
Perth, Western Australia
3 October – 7 December 2025
John Curtain Gallery Website
David Roche Gallery
North Adelaide, South Australia
14 February – 9 May 2026
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Launceston, Tasmania
04 July – 27 September 2026
Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
Katoomba, New South Wales
28 November 2026 – 7 February 2027
Fantastic Forms is a Bundanon Touring Exhibition.
The exhibition is supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.
