Salt: Nora Hanasy & Jo Williams
This visual autobiography highlights two local artists through a variety of mediums, exploring the challenges faced by these women through a very vulnerable and honest lens.
Through the metaphor of "salt in our bones," artists Nora Hanasy and Jo Williams explore pivotal moments in their personal journeys, revealing how these experiences have shaped their identities.
Their artwork serves as a testament to the memories that define them, inviting viewers to reflect on the emotional depth and resilience found within their unique narratives.
Artworks will tell stories about a range of very personal themes including but not limited to addiction, loss, racism, trauma, and home sickness which the artists believe will resonate with audiences on a range of levels.
Through collaborating together, supporting each other and sharing experiences an underlying theme emerged – the relationship with the natural world and, through understanding their existence in it and the importance of place and connections, this exhibition became a healing experience accepting that ‘once you expect that life is hard, life is easy’ - M Scott Peck.
About the artists
Nora Hanasy
Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1974. Nora came to Australia as a ten-year-old and this beautiful country became her home. As a child she moved around, and this made it hard for her to make any strong connections and friendships. Not speaking the Australian language was an additional barrier and these experiences changed a once outgoing dramatic child into an introverted and very shy teenager and adult. It took time to adjust to her new home and feelings of homesickness and nostalgia were at the forefront of emotions in the beginning. As Nora got older, she escaped into nature, camping and road trips and began to see the beauty of the Australian landscape, connected with the land and the colours and textures of her new home became her muse. Nora works with found objects both natural and manmade - reworking, reconstructing and recycling their energy long forgotten into new narratives. Nora is inspired by artists, Joseph Cornell, Louise Nevelson, Marcel Duchamp, La Wilson and Rosalie Gascoigne.
Nora is an assemblage artist and a Visual Arts teacher. She completed a Bachelor of Education majoring in Visual Art in 2000 and has been teaching Visual Arts and facilitating art workshops for over 20 years.
Jo Williams
Jo Williams is a conceptual mixed-media artist and arts educator, known for her spiritually imbued works that draw inspiration from various sources, including song lyrics and travel.
Her art reflects her belief in the redemption of materials and people, employing themes of healing through the Japanese philosophies of Kintsugi and Ma, which celebrate the beauty found in imperfection and the significance of the spaces in between.
A graduate of the National Art School in Sydney and a former student of Mervyn Moriarty’s Australian Flying Arts School, Jo has showcased her work in numerous exhibitions and holds a significant presence in collections across Australia and abroad.
Jo has resided in Howard on the Fraser Coast since 2011, where she continues her artistic journey and teaches from her studio, Jo’s Art Cave.
Exhibition opening
This exhibition will officially open on Thursday, 17th April 2025.
Doors open at 5.30pm with speeches starting at 6.30pm.
Meet the creatives and inspiration behind their artworks, whilst enjoying a drink from our licenced bar.
Entry is free. Please register your details below to RSVP.