Revisiting Phyllium giganteum homo insecta

Pictured above: my watercolour Phyllium giganteum homo insecta, 2018, 41.91 x 29.72 cm, currently hanging in the foyer of Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery. 

The work was originally shortlisted for the R & M McGivern Prize 2019; the theme that year was Anthropocene. Suspended between science and science fiction, Phyllium giganteum is part of the Order of Homo insecta, a highly evolved species wherein human and nature are intertwined. 

Phyllium giganteum homo insecta was subsequently acquired from Anthropocene for the permanent collection of Maroondah City Council Art Collection. 

Many thanks to Rona Green for the photo.

POWER OF PRINT

My linocut Sister Act has been included in the new exhibition 

POWER OF PRINT

Works from the Maroondah City Council Art Collection

Exhibition launch: 6pm Tuesday 2 December

Opening remarks: Martin King, artist and Senior Printer, Australian Print Workshop and artist Nusra Latif Qureshi 
  

POWER OF PRINT reflects the enormous creative potential that resides in the meeting of ink and printing matrix with paper, and the continued fascination the print medium holds for artists.

The exhibition features 38 original prints by 28 artists from the Maroondah City Council Art Collection dating from 1977 to 2025:

Raymond Arnold/Martin King/Lloyd Rees/Jayne Dyer/Catherine Woo/Tony Scott/Jill Orr/Karen Casey/Yvonne Boag/Caroline Williams/Heather Shimmen/Allan Mitelman/Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison/Clare Humphries/Teho Ropeyarn/Nusra Latif Qureshi/Deborah Klein/Vicki Couzens/Ben Reid/Judy Watson/Yuho Imura/Maria Kozic/Rona Green/Melinda Harper/Katherine Hattam/Angela Cavalieri/Judy Holding

Pictured top:

Deborah Klein

Sister Act, 2000

Linocut (3 colours) on Japanese mending tissue overlaid onto brown oriental paper

Maroondah City Council Art Collection

The exhibition opened to the public on 24 November 2025 and runs to 26 January 2026

ArtsSpace at Realm
Ringwood Town Square (opposite Ringwood Station)
Ground floor 179 Maroondah Highway
Ringwood VIC
03 9298 4553
Monday to Friday: 9am to 8pm
Weekends and public holidays: 10am to 5pm

Recent acquisition by Maroondah City Council Art Collection

Pictured with Phyllium giganteum homo-insecta on Thursday 28 November 2019 at the launch of Anthropocene, 
the 2019 R & M McGivern Prize, at Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery. Photo credit: Shane Jones.

Last week I received the happy news that my watercolour, Phyllium giganteum homo-insecta (2018), currently part of Anthropocene, the 2019 R & M McGivern Prize, has been acquired for the Maroondah City Council Art Collection. For more about Anthropocene, go HERE.

Phyllium giganteum homo insecta, 2018, watercolour, 41.91 x 29.72 cm.
Maroondah City Council Art Collection. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

There is still time to catch this superb show, which is exhibited in two venues: 

Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery: 32 Greenwood Ave, Ringwood Vic 3134 

and 

ArtSpace at Realm: Eastland Shopping Centre, 179 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood Vic 3134.

Anthropocene runs to 1 February 2020.

Maroondah City Council Art Collection

Installation view: Sister Act (colour linocut)  photographed with Untitled #19 (oil on canvas) by Shane Jones. Curated by Damian Smith. Click on image to enlarge.

Maroondahartgallery

Maroondah Federation Estate

32 Greenwood Avenue

Ringwood 

The exhibition runs from 15 January to 28 March 2009.