Art Gallery of Ballarat presents An Ornamental Education, an exhibition by Ballarat-based artist Susan Nethercote in the Backspace Gallery until 14 April 2024.

Examines the relationship between the cultivation of flowers and botanicals, Susan Nethercote’s work dives deep into the ways we seek to create a sense of home, place, and spiritual connection through domestic and public gardens. Nethercote draws on her local landscape to explore the interweaving of botany, architecture, history, and culture experienced in cultivated outdoor areas.

Many of the exquisite works are based on the Gallery’s collection of botanical drawings. This intimate exhibition brings into quiet consideration the tensions between the beauty of carefully crafted gardens comprising introduced species, and the evidence of colonialism present in the inner-suburban landscape. With a special interest in the history of female artists’ interaction with flowers, botanicals and gardens, Susan’s work reflects directly on the unique ways they have approached this subject matter in their art practice.