Upcoming Exhibition — Anna Fitzpatrick – Botanica Maxima

Botanica Maxima, the exhibition of new paintings by Anna Fitzpatrick, explores the quiet grandeur of nature through two interwoven bodies of work. Growing up amongst bushland, native flora was a defining touchstone for Anna, and it continues to inform her practice.

Anna presents a beautiful series of oil paintings that pay homage to the banksia. “I love their dramatic sculptural form,” she explains. “But banksia also symbolise the Australian ethos—resilient through fire, flood, and drought.” Anna sets her banksia against a midnight-blue backdrop, which imbues them with depth and glowing drama. A gold leaf moon keeps watch. “I see this as a counterpoint to the botanical form. It adds a quiet, luminous presence.”

A second collection of paintings transports us to the Tasman Peninsula, where Anna draws on memories of a hike along the Three Capes Track with her parents and young daughters. To capture the sweeping vistas, these paintings are all large-scale. “This was the only way to fully embrace the remote and cinematic coastline spread out before us.”

In Beyond the Headland, we are immersed in a primal vista. As the sun rises, sea and sky merge in soft tones of pink and mauve. Jagged cliffs swoop down to the sea, while the foreground glows with a vibrant tapestry of flora, subtly infused with gold and rich red. An old, twisted banksia stands firm. “Entering this landscape felt like stepping beyond the present and into something ancient and enduring.”

Anna Fitzpatrick’s Botanica Maxima exhibition will open at Handmark on April 10 and run until April 27.