Kogarah artist Steve Lopes spent three weeks as artist in residence at Carss Park Artist Cottage earlier this year.
The results of that residency can be seen at a new exhibition, Three Weeks at Carss Park, at the Stella Downer Fine Art gallery from December 4 to 20.
The exhibition depicts Lopes’s impressions of the historic bush and parkland area near Kogarah Bay where the Carss Park Cottage can be found.
The bush and coastline was once home to several members of The Gameygal clan before white settler William Carss claimed the land.
What was once a source of camping grounds for The Gameygal peoples was divided into a rural farming and a colonial community until the early 20th century.
In more recent times Carss Park has been a place for leisure activities and big community events staged by the local council.
Carss Cottage was classified in the register of the National Trust of Australia and gained a permanent conservation order in the bicentennial year 1988.
Throughout his three week stay at the cottage, Lopes observed the minute and everyday details of life along the rambling and exquisite coastline and the people who passed through it.
His work displays lively vignettes that depict the natural landscape alongside the man made structures that impact the scenery such as the tidal pool, sandstone walls and jetties.
An artist who’s travels and work have taken him to the Western Front, Italy and throughout Europe Three Weeks at Carss Park presents the artist in his local area, reflecting and adding to the local histories and memories of the landscape that have framed his work.
- Three Weeks at Carss Park will be officially opened at the Stella Downer Fine Art Gallery, 1/24 Wellington Street, Waterloo, on Saturday, December 8, from 3pm to 5pm.
