heidi woodhead —  oceanic

heidi woodhead, ebb and flow, 2025, oil on canvas, 92 x 122 cm

Heidi’s last Handmark showing, which was a sellout success, referenced the Dutch Masters with hyper-realistic tulips that glowed against moody backdrops. In her new exhibition, Oceanic, the style remains but the subject matter is dramatically different: “We recently drove around Australia, and I was mesmerised by the ocean and coastline that circles this ancient land. I knew what I had to paint next,” Heidi reflects.
 
Back in the studio Heidi bought these landscapes to life with traditional still-life composition. In striking tableau, worn fragments washed up by the ocean – like shells and bits of china – conjures up images of “the vast passage of time which communicates a sense of history.” The ocean becomes a metaphor. A recurring theme in this body of work is swirling cloth that represents turbulent waves.
 
In Sirens, which is the largest of Heidi’s 21 works, our mind is drawn to visions of old shipwrecks deep under the ocean. Rich with patina and set upon a dark background, it’s as if a spotlight has picked out stories from the sea. A glossy black drinking vessel, luminous shells, and a glass fishing float evokes “a sense of history with time-weary, ancient objects that reach through the ages to communicate their tales of woe.”
 
Heidi’s Oceanic exhibition will open at Handmark at 5pm on Friday September 5. It will run until September 22.