The Church Gallery is delighted to announce the arrival of our final interstate artist in residence for 2005, internationally acclaimed Lisa Roet. Lisa is a leading Australian contemporary artist whose practice since the mid-1990s has focused upon primates and their relationship to human beings. Driven by a deep respect and fascination for these animals, her work encompasses large-format drawing, sculptural installation, bronze casting, photography, digital print and video and more recently, stained-glass leadlighting.

Although based in Melbourne, Lisa’s practice has incorporated residencies in some of the world’s leading zoos including Zoo Atlanta, USA (1996 and 1997), Berlin Zoo, Germany (1997), Antwerp Zoo, Belgium (1999), and Kuala Lumpur Zoo, Malaysia (2000), and the Language Research Centre at Georgia University, USA (1997). These residencies have incorporated contact time with primates at each institution, directly informing the drawings, photographs and sculptural works produced. Lisa’s work is represented in numerous collections in Australia and internationally. In 2003 she was winner of the National Sculpture Prize at the National Gallery of Australia and the Mornington Peninsular Drawing Award.

Lisa will be residing at the Church Gallery during September 2005. This residency period will incorporate an exhibition at the Gallery, opening Wednesday 21 September and running until Sunday 16 October. We are especially pleased to announce that Lisa’s exhibition opening night is to incorporate the Western Australian launch of the first major monograph of her work, Lisa Roet, published by Craftsman House.

Lisa’s exhibition will include her highly-acclaimed large-format drawings of primates’ hands, a major new series of life-size bronze castings, depicting primates in the act of speaking, and recent works in stained glass that will sit beautifully within the Church Gallery’s ecclesiastical architecture. These works are inspired by the true story of HAM, a chimpanzee sent into space by NASA in 1961. Ham was captured in the forests of central Africa and taken to NASA where he was trained for his journey. Titled Pages from a Comic these leadlight artworks highlight the surreal life journey of this chimpanzee. He was a symbol of the cold war space race and of mankind's ultimate achievement of space travel.

Whilst in Western Australia Lisa will additionally be working at the Perth Zoo, spending time observing the primates in preparation for a new body of work. This exhibition is proudly sponsored by The Church Gallery Art Angels and supported by the Perth Zoo and the Silvery Gibbon Project.

*prices valid 2005