The Language of Flowers: Jill Kempson
You are cordially invited to the exhibition launch on Saturday, 30 May, 2-4 pm
The Australian context informs the vibrancy of these works. Local light and landscape sharpen the colours, while the varied species of flowers bring distinctive forms and hues to each composition. The blooms respond to their environment, offering a floral language that is familiar yet freshly perceptive, immediate, and distinctly Australian.
Materiality is central. Petals are rendered with awareness of texture, weight, and the way light interacts with surface, while vases and urns act as stages, giving structure and presence. Shadows, overlapping forms, and subtle shifts in focus create depth and a sense of space, encouraging the viewer to linger, move, and engage intimately with each composition.
These paintings are not allegorical or sentimental. They do not dwell on decay or fragility. Instead, they celebrate intensity, sensuality, and the pleasures of seeing. By revisiting a classical idiom, the series demonstrates that even familiar forms can feel immediate and compelling when approached with attention, curiosity, and devotion to the visual and tactile qualities of the subject.
Ultimately, the works in 'The Language of Flowers' are meditations on presence and perception. They reclaim the floral still life as a site of sensory engagement, demonstrating the power of colour, form, and materiality to surprise, excite, and resonate. Through this intimate dialogue, Kempson shows how a classical genre can continually reveal new richness, offering intensity, pleasure, and a uniquely Australian sensuous experience of seeing."
Andrew McIlroy, Arts Writer and Visual Artist, 2026
