Exhibitions

Born in Germany in a refugee camp in 1947, John Krzywokulski came to Australia when he was 3 years old with his Russian mother Alexandra, Polish father Peter and brother Tadek, a family of displaced people. John’s life in Australia started at the Bonegilla migrant camp in Northern Victoria.

The family was fortunate enough to be taken in by the Irving sisters who ran the Mount Waverley Riding School, a premier establishment covering all aspects of horsemanship and eventually gaining an international reputation. Life with the Irving sisters enriched the family immensely. Surrounded by beautiful country, animals, art and sculpture, the Krzywokulski family was able to experience a lifestyle and culture presumed impossible for a refugee family at that time.

Throughout John’s school life his main interests were art and theatre. His high school art teacher Peter Ralph (Dandenong High School) was a profound influence, with art exhibitions and performing arts becoming regular extra curricular activities which introduced John to the real art world. Following high school, John studied at Caulfield Institue of Technology (now Monash).

During his second year in 1967, he was approached by Sweeney Reed who saw John’s work at a student exhibition. At this time Sweeney was directing the gallery Strines, one of the most progressive and avante garde galleries in Melbourne. Sweeney introduced John to the John and Sunday Reed circle at Heide. John K’s first ever sale was made to John Reed, John and Sunday’s passion for his work sustained a friendship and patronage that lasted until their deaths.

John Reed wrote about John K’s work, probably the longest article on a single artist ever written by John Reed. This article was published in Art In Australia with the added coup that John’s work was reproduced on the front cover. The Reed collection eventually held over two dozen pieces of John’s artwork. However, a large portion of the collection was dispersed prior to their deaths, leaving a core of only nine examples. With the deaths of Sweeney and John and Sunday Reed, an extraordinarily enriching personal, professional and historical era ended.

John K. has continued to pursue his personal visions in relative isolation from the general art world. Difficult to label and associate with any particular contemporary movement; he has remained a maverick. His homage to both the spatial concepts and the enigmatic concepts of Surrealism are clearly evident, but John has extended these into a very personal idiom.

Except from my diary, 9th June 2025: Near Penzance is the tiny seaside village of Zennor. It is home to St. Senara Church, built at least 1400 years ago.

This is an ancient and mysterious place where fog rolls in from a sea so wild that fishing boats struggle to find safe harbour. Legend has it that a mermaid called Morveren lured a gifted singer and parishioner, Mathey Trewhella, to Pendour Cove where they vanished together into the sea.       A 16^th century carving of Morveren can be found on the side of a pew in St Senara’s.

When I attended Sunday Service, the Minister, a proud Cornishman well into his 80s, spoke of how he had walked that morning from Zennor to Gurnards Head. The natural beauty and wildness of the landscape caused him to shed tears of awe.

This landscape is my Cornwall too, forever in my heart.

I wept for my ancestors leaving this place in the 1840s and for myself, discovering my ancestral home and having to say goodbye many times.

Dyw genowgh’.

Debra Ferry is a unique, local artist exhibiting her work for the first time, publicly. Watch Debra painting a smaller canvas live to see her fascinating technique to arrive at these beautiful pieces.

Debra will provide a piece of artwork as a silent auction item. Half the proceeds of artwork will be donated to the PAVED Festival to assist with ongoing festivals. This will be drawn at the end of Saturday 12th April. Other originals and prints will be available for purchase and viewing.
A rare opportunity to see and own an exquisite work.

Belinda Conibeer is a Melbourne-based mosaic artist working from her studio in Gembrook in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges. Through Beliana Mosaics she creates detailed glass, ceramic and mixed-media works inspired by nature, particularly birds, botanicals and the Australian landscape. Alongside her studio practice, Belinda creates private and community commissions and has extensive experience leading collaborative mosaic projects. She also teaches adult workshops in her home studio, sharing traditional mosaic techniques and encouraging others to explore creativity through tile, glass and found materials.