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Life as a Circus is a series of artworks (paintings, crochet, paper puppets, and soft sculpture) by Christina Darras that explore the playful, unpredictable nature of life. Through her tactile practice, she investigates themes of uncertainty and uprootedness. Forms borrowed from circus characters encapsulate a sense of constant movement. Characterised by a feast of colours and recurring circles symbolising perpetual motion, the series features both figurative and abstract forms.
The Circus as an entity is a movable feast. It belongs only to itself, and every place it visits becomes home until the next move. The circus performers live and perform within the circus tent, without familiarity with the external world. Darras chooses the circus as a metaphor for the transitions in life, constantly moving to uncharted maps. Grappling between the tangible and the illusory, the paper puppets mirror the fragility of their beings. The integration of crochet and threads extends the image, invoking meditative labour and the tangible presence of the hand. The forms and characters float in a negative space to underscore the uncertainty of
things. Life as a Circus is a celebratory expression of the illusion of reality, as all performances are.
Christina Darras is an interdisciplinary artist and curator of Greek – Athenian origin. Her practice includes painting, printmaking, the use of textiles and threads. Through lengthy tactile processes, she explores issues of familiarity and unpredictability and the relation
between the real and the mythical. She lives and works in Mentone.
Venue
Jacky Winter Gallery
52 Budd Street
Collingwood, VIC 3066
+61.(0)3.8060.9745
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When
Opening : 27th March 2026 @ 6:00 pm
Duration: 27th March - 2nd of May 2026
Impossible Bodies
Life is in constant flux. Migration, Covid and ageing were factors of change in Christina Darras’s life. Darras had to reinvent a new reality, with new rules and values. We endlessly invent new languages and vocabularies to be able to communicate. As the body changes and the mind adjusts, Impossible Bodies depicts a series of changes internally and externally. Some happen as evolution and a need to adapt, and some occur abruptly through loss and grief. New flexibility is invented, and bodies transform into Impossible bodies—like extreme acrobats performing in a void scene.
Venue
Frankston Art Centre - Mezzanine Gallery
Works on Paper, Upstairs Foyer
Jewelry, Main Foyer, Design Store
When
Opening: Friday May 10th @ 8:00 pm
Thursday 2 May to Saturday 20 July
Tue-Fri 10-5 Sat 10-2
Free Entry
Closed Monday, Sunday, public holidays & long weekends
Proudly supported by Frankston City Council's Artist Project Grant program.
Le Lendemain
The project that will be presented at the George Paton Gallery from the 13th of November to the 8th of
December (opening night on the 30th of November) is called Le Lendemain, meaning in French, the day
after tomorrow, the future. Six artists: Leanne Bock, Rebecca Diele, Kayleigh Gogh, Meredith
Marshallsea, Rachel O Connor, and Christina Darras are the participants, all VCA graduates from the same
COVID cohort from different cultural and professional backgrounds, ages, and creative languages. The
project is curated by Christina Darras.
The residency – exhibition explores the space and time after graduation and the transition from academic to real life. What are the personal experiences of this transition? How are we finding our path reentering the stratosphere of reality? How do we assess our acquired knowledge? How and in which way has our creative thinking and making shifted in VCA? And what does this mean? Can we revisit old ideas with a different, more profound approach?
Photo Credit: Astrid Mulder
Finalist Lester Prize 2023
The Lester Prize Main Awards exhibition will be held at The Art Gallery of Western Australia from 22 September to 26 November 2023.
2023 Finalists:
Katty Adano (WA) • Louise Ernestine Anders (SA) • Rita Attwood (VIC) • Phil Barron (WA) • Revee Bendixen (VIC) • Alycia Bennett (SA) • Stephen Brameld & Jay Staples (WA) • Ian Chapman (NSW) • W.H. Chong (VIC) • Mark Chu (VIC) • Joshua Cocking (WA) • Sophie Corso (SA) • Greg Creek (VIC) • Christina Darras (VIC) • Angie de Latour (VIC) • Natalie de Rozario (WA) • Julia Donney (NSW) • Jane Ericksen (QLD)? • Tarryn Gill (WA) • Rachel Grove (VIC) • Minjung Kang (WA) • Bahman Kermany (NSW) • Kate Kurucz (SA) • Nerissa Lea (TAS) • Kelly Maree (NSW) • India Mark (NSW) • Ali Marshall (QLD) • Effie Mandalos (VIC) • Savannah Matthews (WA) • Anna Nazzari (WA) • Sarah Paton (WA) • Cameron Richards (WA) • Monica Rohan (QLD) • Charlotte Ruth (NSW) • Khashayar Salmanzadeh (VIC) • Natalie Scholtz (WA) • Robert Shepherd (NSW) • Oliver Stokes Hughes (NSW) • Liz Stute (VIC) • Brooklyn Whelan (QLD)wil
Finalist at Wyndham Art Prize 2023
In 2023, more than 550 works of a very high calibre were entered into the Wyndham Art Prize and 71 were shortlisted for exhibition, 9 being local artists. Join the artists, judges and community to celebrate the 2023 finalists and winners.
Curated by dr megan evans and Olivia Poloni
Artists: Ourania Amvrazis, Ingmar Apinis, Mart Basa, Anna Battersby, Jeremy Blincoe, Deirdre Boeyen-Carmichael, Claire Bridge, Penny Burnett, Fiona Cabassi, Patricia Casey, Benjamin Cole, Bonnie Connelly, Christina Darras, Penelope Davis, Karl de Waal, Jessica DiCosta, Patrick Duffy, Elizabeth Dunn, Mito Elias, Moey Eltom, Aidan Gageler, Louise Galea, Enza Gandolfo & Arty Owens, Bob Gibson, Clive Gono, Tim Gregory, Ali Griffin, Jody Haines, Stephen Haley, Spencer Harrison, Katherine Hattam, Guy Hayes, Kristy Hussey, Zoe Jones, Kate Just, Ayman Kaake, Duain Kelaart, Damien Laing, Laniyuk , Ryan Andrew Lee, Katheryn Leopoldseder, Eugenia Lim, Arrayah Loynd, Penny Mason, Hannah McKellar, Louise Meuwissen, Lucia Mocnay, Rachel Morley, Nandita Nadkarni, Britt Neech, Rukz One, Connor Ovenden-Shaw, Helen Philipp, Izabela Pluta, Victoria Reichelt, Abbey Rich, Carol Rowlands, Thitibodee Rungteerawattananon, Johny Salama, Lee Salomone, Carman Skeehan, Mark Smith, Cathy Staughton, Meagan Streader, Datsun Tran, Jen Valender, Elizabeth Anne van Herwaarden, Luke Wagner, Sarah Walker, Moreen Wellington Lyons, Prita Tina Yeganeh.
Exhibition dates: Thursday 17 August until Sunday 22 October 2023
Mon - Fri: 9am till 4.30pm
Sat & Sun: 11am till 4pm
Curator floor talk: Saturday 2 September 2-4pm
Instagram Project - One Thing A Day
Click for Christina Darras - One Thing A Day in Instagram
Christina Darras Shop - Instagram
Video: Christina Darras - Bottle People - by Robobop (4:49 min)