Heather Hesterman

Great exhibition Subduction 5-27 March 2926 with artists @perditaphillips and Tom @thomascivilian with their exhibition @printcouncilofaustralia following their Baldessin Studio State Library of Victoria Fellowshps. Congratulation to both you! And thanks to Rick Amor and Morag Fraser for their support for this important artistic opportunity. As funding is reduced to the arts it is great to have some support for this iconic print studio. @baldessinstudio image: Perdita Philips Library Dust (2025) library dust and engraved glass tubes. Part of the LithicTraced in the Archive(2024-2025), which explored geological picturing in the State Library of Victoria collection and corresponding landscapes of the goldfields. The project was made possible through a Tate Adam’s Memorial Creative Fellowship at Baldessin studio/SLV.

Clare McCracken and I removing the artwork from Castlemsine’s Experimental Print Prize and getting it expertly chipped by Allen & Mischa from AE Evans Arborists @ae.treecare based in Castlemaine: many thanks for today! The artwork Ground Truthing was sawn and chipped and added to the existing pile of chips on the gallery floor, part of a total of 30 iterations of chipping. 30 is the number of years it takes to grow a pine plantation. The new image replacing the ‘susso workers’ removing stumps of old growth forest is of a digital print taken of a local pine plantation growing near the Ovens River near Myrtleford. Many thanks to Anna and Jenni from Castlemaine Art Museum who were supportive in us achieving this final art action. The Experimental Print Prize is on until March, so please come and visit all the contemporary works in this great exhibition. ‘Ground Truthing’ is part of an ongoing art collaboration with Clare McCracken. Many thanks to Andrew Ferris for his invaluable assistance in the broader project Wild Country where this artwork is a part of. @mccracken_clare @castlemaineartmuseum #experimentalprintmaking #experimentalprinting #experimentalprint #experimentalprintmaker #ovensriver

A new phase is happening now for @mccracken_clare and @hhesterman work at EPP 2025! #experimentalprintprize2025 #environmentalart

Exhibition Plant Life, opens at the @stockroomkyneton curated by Rhett D’Costa, Magali Gentric and Jason Waterhouse. 24 Jan -1 March 2026. Clare McCracken and I are pleased to be showing with: Sofi Bassett, Steven Bellosgardo, Kris Coad, Amber Cronin, Beverley Downs ( whose image is in the start of this post), William Eicholtz, Peter Ellis. Gracie Haney & Louise Jennison, Anthea Kemp, Sara Lindsay, Sally Mannall, Julie Millowock, Betty Mula. Letitia Olivier-Gargano, Petra Rodger’s, Sarah Rudledge, Jason Waterhouse, Lisa Waup and Rosie Weiss. Do come and pop in.

A group exhibition REST IN POWER: A Tribute to a Tribute, opens this Thursday 29 November at 6pm at The Queen Victoria Women’s Centre and is on until 12 December 2025. Following the death of 85 women, including Isla Bell in 2024, a group of courageous RMIT students transformed their graduate show into an act of protest, showcasing how creativity and activism can challenge institutional complacency and demand change. As part be of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender- based violence the Queen Victoria’s Women’s Centre plays tribute to these students and honours a legacy of feminist resistance showcasing how art can become a vehicle and agent for grief, rage, justice and to imagine differently. This is a powerful exhibition that both remembers and calls for renewed action. With thanks to the words by Jess Hutchinson Co-curator/Program Coordinator at the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre. Congratulations to everyone involved - the students, families, Moth Design and Isla Bell’s family. 29 Nov - 12 Dec 2025. If you are in Melbourne, try not to miss this powerful exhibition! @qvwc_melbourne @mothdesign @rmit_art @rmit_paintingstudio

The Children’s Sensorium curated by Dr Grace McQuilten has arrived in Townsville, QLD and was opened by Boon Wurrung Elder N’arweet Aunty Carolyn Briggs. The Children’s Sensorium is an ongoing, multi-platform, arts-based research project that explores how art and sensory-play activities and approaches can enhance wellbeing for young children (ages 4-11) experiencing distress, loss and grief. The project began with a pilot exhibition, The Children’s Sensorium – Art, play and mindfulness for post-pandemic recovery, which was held at RMIT Design Hub Gallery in Melbourne for The Big Anxiety Festival Naarm 2022. The pilot focused, in particular, on post-pandemic recovery. Building on strength-based preventative approaches to support children’s resilience and wellbeing, (shifting focus away from pathology), The Children’s Sensorium enabled children to explore their senses, feelings, thoughts, worries and hopes, to connect to country and nature, and to cultivate emotional intelligence and resilience. The Children’s Sensorium delivered practical resources, through activities and workshops in the space and take-home information for parents, schools, and children. The project has since expanded to include artistic installations and sensory spaces at local schools in Melbourne, a regional exhibition tour across Victoria, and this digital platform to enable communities wide and far to access art-based sensory play tools and resources. @townsvillecitygalleries @cultureatrmit It is created with contemporary artists including Heather Hesterman (planting and cultivation of plants), Fiona Hillary (light), Larissa Hjorth (play and games), Live Particle - Angela Clarke/Camilla Maling (embodiment), Philip Samartzis (sound), Anna Schwann (scent installation) and Hiromi Tango with Moon Girle, Vivian Qiu and Alex Danay (colour and textile installation). The exhibition features Yawa, an interactive arcade game by N’arwee’t Carolyn Briggs, Jarra Karalinar Steel, Narayana Johnson, Troy Innocent and Duncan Corrigan. Exhibition design and creative development by Anthony Clarke (Bloxas).

The Children’s Sensorium on at Bayside Gallery until 19 October 2025. @baysidegallery @baysidecitycouncil @rmitculture #thechildrenssensorium #art #artplay #artmindfulness

The Mourning After ends on Saturday 20 September. Come and be gifted a hyacinth as Florameter is decommissioned and all the bulbs find their ‘forever homes’. Come and spend time with the other incredible works in this show curated by Larissa Hjorth. It’s been a huge honour to show with artists including: Lauren Berkowitz, Centre for Reworlding including Claire G. Coleman (Noongar) and Jen Rae (Métis) in collaboration with High Volume, Maree Clarke (Mutti Mutti/Yorta Yorta and Boon Wurrung/Wemba Wemba), Megan Cope (Quandamooka), Vicki Couzens (Keerray Woorroong Gunditjmara), Shahee Ilyas, Machine Listening (Sean Dockray, James Parker, Joel Stern), Paula Mahoney, Annie Frost Nicholson, The Death Letter Project (Tina FiveAsh), and Lara Thoms (APHIDS). Hyacinth bulbs will be gifted from Friday 19 th Sept 2-5, and Saturday 2-4, and please take a hyacinth poster. @rmitgalleries @rmitculture #mourningafter /exhibitions/artworks/

FLORAMETER. The Hyacinths are flowering in the gallery. Do come and visit. These bulbs will be gifted to viewers as ‘forever homes’ during the last week of the exhibition. Stay tuned for more details! @rmitgalleries @micronarrative #flowersblooming #flowersinthegallery #bulbflowers #bulbs #art #timebasedart

Each time you visit ‘The Mourning After’ at Design Hub Gallery, Heather Hesterman’s ‘Florameter’ will be in a different stage of growth, bloom or decay. ⁠ ⁠ The artwork, which is comprised of hundreds of flower bulbs, encourages us to delve into and deepen our relationships with the natural world. ⁠ ⁠ Also showing in ‘The Mourning After’ is Hesterman’s 2025 work ‘CO-SPIRE’, a poignant model for dealing with ecological grief. ⁠ ⁠ Through her work, Hesterman encourages us to address ‘plant blindness’ by developing chlorophilia – or a love for plants! In strengthening the human – plant relational network, Hesterman’s practice shows us to love, care and grieve for the more-than-human world. ⁠ ⁠ Curated by Larissa Hjorth. ⁠ Workshops curated by Tamara Borovica, Larissa Hjorth and Kate Gerber. ⁠ Design by U__P. ⁠ ⁠ #TheMourningAfter #DesignHubGallery #RMITCulture ⁠ @rmitculture @rmituniversity @micronarrative @hhesterman @danceinquiry @dr_kati_gee

Film Ground Truthing and Feral Actions are part of the exhibition Wild Country:The Ovens River. A collaboration with @mccracken_clare and @hhesterman on at the Docklands Library Gallery. 6-31 August, last day tomorrow, 12 - 4 pm. @cityofmelbournelibraries

Come and listen to Clare McCracken and Heather Hesterman this Saturday discuss ‘Wild Country’ - their body of work exploring the ecological history of the Ovens River through the creative reconstitution of archives, performance and creative writing. 🗓️ Saturday 30th of August ⏰ 12:00pm 📍The Library at the Dock - the gallery is located on the 2nd floor Photo Credits: Still image from Ground Truthing by Clare McCracken and @hhesterman .  Filmed, edited and directed by Violet Sykes-Hesterman @violetsykes_h . @cityofmelbournelibraries