Chrissie Cotter Gallery

Inner West Council's art deco Chrissie Cotter Gallery is located in Pidcock Street, Camperdown (next to Camperdown Commons) and is available for exhibitions and cultural events by individuals and organisations.

When in use, gallery opening hours are Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm – unless stated – please check below.

Entry is free. Accessibility information: The gallery has an accessible bathroom. There is a set of stairs inside the building and a lift for wheelchair access.

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On Ageing: An Exhibition on a Theme
28 women creatively explore what it means to grow older...

Opening event: Wednesday 23rd April, 6-8:30pm
Exhibition dates: 24 April - 12 May 2025 (Thurs to Sun 10:30am - 5pm except ANZAC Day - closed Fri 25th April)

An oil painting of waterlilies floating on water with overlay text 'On Ageing'
Image credit: Memory of Seasons (2025) by Anita Lever

Is ageing, as Doris Lessing posits, a ‘cage of associations and labels’, or does growing older offer us the freedom to shed former roles and explore fresh selves? 

In this exhibition of artworks by 28 women, many permutations on this rich and complex theme are presented. The diverse array of materials employed offer pause for thought about how we might communicate philosophical ideas through art making. From the comic to the affectionate, the angry to the content, the range of creative perspectives in this show aim to surprise, delight and provoke.

Workshops

Small scale portraiture with Tamara Pavlovic - Wed 30 April, 5:30pm
'Memory of Seasons' workshop with Anita Lever - Thurs 1 May, 5:30pm
Visible mending workshop with Vicky Cutler - Sat 2 May, 2pm
RE-WRITING THE SCRIPT - creatively explore ideas around ageing with Skye Rogers - Sun 3 May, 11am
Metamorphosis embroidery workshop by Amy Jones - Sun 3 May, 2:30pm
WRITING THE PAST with Phillip Gwynne - Tues 6 May, 10am
Nature + Self - Mindfulness, Photography and Art with Jennifer Blau - Wed 7 May, 11am
Playing with dolls / meeting the madwoman with Gill Brooks - Thurs 8 May, 6pm
'Drawn from inside' experimental drawing with Maria Speyer - Sat 10 May, 11am
By the Book! with Kerry Blake - Sat 10 May, 2:30pm

For more information on the exhibition, workshops and gallery hours, please contact Skye Rogers on skye@skyesthelimit.com.au or 0404 876 682.

Image of a woman's hand wearing a wedding ring with a babies hand resting on top with the words 'On Ageing' overlayed

Coming Up Next

Soft Hurts by Beatrice Buckland-Willis

Opening Event: May 15, 6pm -8pm
Exhibition dates: 16 May - 1 June 2025, Thursday - Sunday 10am - 4pm

Beatrice Buckland Willis Soft Hurts 2025
Image: Beatrice Buckland-Willis (2025)

Soft means sore.
I am not in my body, I do not exist.
Managing expectations,
adoring everything that I am.

Soft Hurts by Bea Buckland-Willis acts as an investigation of representations of the body
in pain through the ritualisation and reenactment of performative acts which interact with
alternative temporal 'crip' spaces. They regard printmaking practice as an extension of
bodily performance.

Playing with traditional relief printing techniques, they investigate the concept of the print
multiple through ongoing material exploration with gypsum plaster. A material that is
durable but not necessarily archival, plaster undergoes a natural deterioration. By
casting and re-casting, curing and dismantling, this practice mirrors the cyclical and
unreliable nature of memory and the pain experience.

The artist is interested in the materiality of plaster due to its connotations in both the
medical and art world. The plaster cast in the history of sculpture is a duplicate, often
devalued and seen as an inexpensive ‘other’ to the original. In a medical context, plaster
is the scaffolding for the broken body, or a tool to cast a copy of something ‘abnormal’ in
order to correct it (such as a back brace or veneer).

Using the pedogeological framework of Crip Theory, which rejects modern
interpretations of Cartesian dualism, Buckland-Willis explores Margret Price's 'Bodymind'
concept which argues for the inextricable link between body and mind in how we
approach our understanding of pain. They propose an investigation of the rejection of
the medical as a framework for understanding pain, conversely considering their practice
as the ritualisation of pain as a form of memory. Crip theory refers to an emerging area
of study which incorporates critical disability and queer theory to reframe the intertwined
and intersecting social pressures and norms which can be found in both the queer and
ability communities.

Special thanks to Inner West Council for their White’s Creek Cottage Residency
program.

About the artist
She/They

Beatrice Buckland-Willis is a Sydney-based artist, with a passion for all things
print. They are currently undertaking a Master of Fine Arts (Printmaking), at
National Art School, Sydney. Their practice is multi-disciplinary, combining
traditional print processes with experimental installation. As an artist with lived
experience of chronic pain, they are concerned with representations of pain and
subverting ideas of the ‘normal’ healing experience.

Their work has been showcased at art spaces including; The Cutaway
(Barangaroo), AIRspace (Marrickville), Artsite (Camperdown) and 321 Project
Space (Surry Hills). They have been selected as a finalist in the Blacktown City
Art Prize and Tatiara Art Prize. In 2021 they exhibited with the Other Art Fair as a
part of the New Futures Program supporting emerging artists. They are also a
2022 recipient of the Megalo Printmaking Residency (Canberra) and the 2023-24
White Creek's Cottage Studio Residency.

Website: https://www.beabuckland-willis.com/
Instagram: @beadoesntknowwhatshesdoing