Australian National Capital Artists (ANCA) is an artist-run initiative in Canberra that provides studio and exhibition space for artists. In 2024, Lucy Chetcuti and Eve Fairhall began sharing a studio at ANCA. This synchronicity that brought the artists into a shared space continued to manifest in unexpected coalescences in their work. At the time, neither artist had confirmed their next exhibition, allowing them to work intuitively and experimentally without the pressure of an imminent deadline. The joy of making for its own sake is evident in their joint exhibition Looking Up and Looking Down in ANCA’s Gallery.
The exhibition title brings together the artists’ different views on visual perception, both informed by their environments. Chetcuti’s compositions are informed by gazing up at the tree canopy, Fairhall’s by looking down into rockpools. There is a great intimacy in sharing a studio, and this feeling resonates in the exhibition. The artists’ work contrasts – Fairhall’s earthy tones and organic forms and Chetcuti’s candy-like colours and geometric compositions – but there’s a pleasing harmony derived from their shared space, of time spent critiquing and discussing one another’s work.
It was during one such critique that Chetcuti and Fairhall discovered an unexpected coincidence in their work. Both artists were drawing on the metaphor of the window. The window became a cornerstone of their joint exhibition and added further layers to their exploration of perspectives – looking up, looking down, looking inward and looking out.
Fairhall builds up her compositions through a process of stretching transparent, salvaged window coverings over the frame, painting them, then cutting and pulling sections away. The process is unpredictable, leaving room for moments of surprise as a layer is pulled away to reveal something unexpected. In Dig right down and Temporary, both 2024, the layering has resulted in an intriguing depth and small holes, which compel the viewer to lean towards the work and peek into it. Occasional pops of vibrant pinks and oranges induce the child-like delight of discovering a colourful creature in a rockpool.
The window also manifests materially in Chetcuti’s work, through her use of transparent wax. She uses a harmonious palette for the base layer, painting with oils directly onto the canvas, before coating it with wax. Chetcuti draws into the wax layer with richly pigmented oil pastels, which are then melted into the base. In some works, such as A vision unto, 2024, the texture of the wax is still visible, while for others, there is a smoother finish. The texture and layering create a sense of space. In Chetcuti’s Inside joke series, 2025, the vibrant colours seem lit from within like stained glass. Abstract figures flit across the frame like birds before a window.
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Windows give a sense of security and protection, yet they are inherently fragile and easily shattered. This vulnerability speaks to the state of the arts and the state of the world. Looking Up and Looking Down feels like an antidote to this precarity. Chetcuti and Fairhall remind us that there’s still joy to be found. When you can’t bear to look at the news, you could always look up at the trees, or down into a rockpool, or out the window, or inwards to yourself. Just don’t turn your gaze away for too long.
Looking Up and Looking Down will be exhibited at Australian National Capital Artists (ANCA) Gallery in Dickson, Canberra until 17 April 2025.
