IRREPRESSIBLE

My hand-coloured linocut Everything’s coming up roses, 2025, will shortly make its debut in Irrepressible at Whitehorse Artspace. The exhibition was curated by Rona Green, who is pretty irrepressible herself. 

The work takes its title from the Stephen Sondheim/Jule Styne song Everything’s Coming Up Roses, originally penned for the Broadway musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable (1959) and performed by its charismatic central character, the thorny, but indefatigable Rose. Similarly, in my own work, her namesake flower is a signifier of eternal optimism, often in the face of seemingly impossible odds.

IRREPRESSIBLE

Opening 1pm – 3pm Saturday 21 March 2026

 

For Irrepressible, Rona Green brings together 53 artists from across Victoria, inviting them to express what currently captures their imagination – from the provocative to the evocative.

 

Featuring creators ranging from emerging talents to accomplished practitioners, the exhibition highlights relief printmaking and explores the possibilities of this technique within the intimate format of a 28 x 28 cm work of art. Each print encapsulates a concentrated glimpse into the artist’s vision, and together, the works reveal the remarkable potential and inventiveness of the medium.

 

Artists include: Vivienne Adeney, Patricia Agus, Emma “Ruby” Armstrong-Porter, Rosalind Atkins, Elizabeth Banfield, Areka Brown, Loris Button, Jazmina Cininas, Elizabeth Cole, Tonia Composto, Paul Compton, Mya Cook, Miranda Costa, Di Ellis, James Farrar, Philip Faulks, Eleanor Franks, Tyronne Gietzmann, Jackie Gorring, Kate Gorringe-Smith, Britt Gow, Jill Green, Rona Green, Richard Harding, Bill Hay, Kate Hudson, Anita Iacovella, Kyoko Imazu, Deborah Klein, Astrid Lempriere, Ellie Malin, Cassie May, Robert Mihajlovski, John McClumpha, Aaron McLoughlin, Karen Neal, Kat Parker, Jim Pavlidis, Fleur Rendell, Michael Reynolds, David Rosengrave, Lisa Sewards, Gwen Scott, Heather Shimmen, Sophia Szilagyi, Helen Timbury, Clayton Tremlett, Carolyn Vickers, Miguel "Andy" Villanueva, Peter Ward, Amanda Western, Jessi Wong and Lala Zarei.

Whitehorse Artspace

Box Hill Town Hall

1022 Whitehorse Road

Box Hill VIC 3128

IRREPRESSIBLE runs from 21 March - 16 May 2026.

 

Gallery hours

Tuesday – Friday 10am – 4pm

Saturday 12noon – 4pm

 

artspace@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

03 9262 6250

https://www.creativewhitehorse.vic.gov.au/venues/artspace.

Pictured top: Deborah Klein, Everything’s coming up roses, 2025, hand-coloured linocut. Edition size: 56. Printed by Dianne Longley at Agave Print Studio, Trentham, VIC. Photo credit: Cathy Ronalds.

Painting the white roses red

Unlike the roses planted in error by the hapless gardeners in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the roses in my linocut Everything’s coming up roses were always intended to be red. Throughout their transformation from white to crimson, however, I couldn’t help but recall one of my all-time favourite books (along with its companion volume, Through the Looking Glass), which it seems still influence my own work, even when I’m not conscious of it. Incidentally, the Alice books were also revered by the Surrealists.

Here is an excerpt from the relevant chapter from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

CHAPTER VIII

The Queen's Croquet-Ground

A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red. Alice thought this a very curious thing, and she went nearer to watch them, and just as she came up to them she heard one of them say, `Look out now, Five! Don't go splashing paint over me like that!’…

…`Would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, `why you are painting those roses?'

Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a low voice, `Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and if the Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you know. So you see, Miss, we're doing our best, afore she comes, to--' At this moment Five, who had been anxiously looking across the garden, called out `The Queen! The Queen!' and the three gardeners instantly threw themselves flat upon their faces. There was a sound of many footsteps, and Alice looked round, eager to see the Queen.

To read the entire chapter, click here:

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/alice-VIII.html

Everything’s coming up roses was created for IRREPRESSIBLE, an exhibition and print exchange portfolio coordinated by Rona Green. Comprising 55 relief prints by 55 invited artists, it will be exhibited at Whitehorse Artspace in early 2026. 

Images 1-3 from top: 

1 The hand-colouring begins;

2 Illustration by John Tenniel from the original edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1866. (Public domain). 

3 Completed hand-colouring of the first of an edition of 56, plus proofs. 

Editioning at Agave Print Studio

Preview of the linocut edition for IRREPRESSIBLE, a group exhibition and print portfolio to be launched in early 2026. The project, which was conceived by Rona Green, will feature some truly terrific artists and I’m thrilled to be part of it. 

My linocut was printed by Australian printmaking legend Dianne Longley at Agave Print Studio at Trentham in West Central Victoria.

We were serenaded by some of the locals as we walked the path to Dianne’s studio to collect the completed edition. It was a delight to encounter Laughing kookaburras at such close range.

To see early progress views of the linocut, go HERE.

Images from top:

1-2: Print edition in progress at Agave Print Studio;

3: The splendid Albion Press on which the linocut was printed;

4-5: Special welcoming committee on the day we collected the completed print edition.

Photo credit for images 1-2: Dianne Longley.

EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES: a linocut in progress

Pictured above and below are selected progress views of my current linocut. It’s intended for a group exhibition and print exchange comprising relief prints by 55 artists that’s scheduled for early next year. However, because its curator, Rona Green, will need ample time to organise numerous aspects of the project, including framing and collating all the works for the portfolios, our print editions are due to be completed and delivered by early August 2025. 

The title of the exhibition/print exchange is Irrepressible. My work is entitled Everything’s Coming Up Roses.