Scattered
1 August - 14 September 2025
Scattered
Barbara Pierce
Barbara Pierce, Scattered (detail), 2024, Found object, canvas, thread and acrylic paint, Variable dimensions.
Narrative threads converge in this installation by Barbara Pierce. The artist has composed collected fragments, objects and created artworks to form a tactile landscape dispersed across the gallery walls. The work was initially informed by conceptual scattering; by social upheaval, displaced persons and humanitarian issues, and the connections between landscapes, places of shelter and the lives of people who occupy these spaces.
Pierce’s repurposed fragments and objects also hold personal meaning, as they were sourced from environments which she has physically occupied or moved through. By exploring, collecting and developing elements from her own surroundings, Pierce considers her existence and her connections to shelter and landscape.
Barbara Pierce (b. 1955) is a Gurambilbarra / Townsville based artist who has been exhibiting since the 1980s. She works across painting, collage, assemblage, print, photography and installation. Her work explores the connections between landscape, shelter and social fabric, acknowledging that they are essentially linked inseparable entities and unique to prevailing circumstances.
Pierce holds a Diploma of Fine Art (Townsville College of TAFE, 1984) and her work is held in the collections of Townsville City Council, James Cook University and Foshan China. She was the recipient of an Australia Council Overseas Study/Travel Grant to the UK, and was an invited artist to the Foshan China Quise Festival/residency. The artist has had solo exhibitions at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts, the Crafts Council of Queensland gallery and the Basin Cottage Gallery on Letteremairrener Country / Cataract Gorge, Tasmania. Pierce’s work has been exhibited in curated group, touring and prize exhibitions including Journey Through Images: 40 years of Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, The Percivals, Strand Ephemera (Townsville City Galleries) the 10th Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial, dis/PLACE (IMA) and Eight Artists in Townsville (Iwaki/Japan).
Also on display during this period
All Exhibitions1 August -
14 September 2025
Open Hours
Tues - Fri: 9am-5pm
Sat - Sun: 9am-1pm
Gallery closed Mondays, public holidays and during exhibition install weeks.
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Contact
408 Flinders Street,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia
PO Box 2394,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia
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Acknowledgement of Country
Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region - Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal - as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.
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Acknowledgements
Umbrella is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy, and by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments. | Umbrella is supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. | Townsville City Council is a funding partner of Umbrella's program.
