‘On the river’s edge we meet’
Opening 22 April
3pm – 5pm
Show runs 22 April – 18 June 2023
GRAFTON REGIONAL GALLERY
Solo Show
Rochelle Summerfield
Image: Rochelle in her studio surrounded by her love of trees as drawings in progress. Photo credit Richard Miller.
It’s ten years that I’ve lived beside the Mighty Clarence River, upstream at Seelands SW Grafton. Every window looks towards the River and everyday it delights me. As I walk down the steep slope to the River and submerge my once-pristine art paper into the ebb and flow of this dominating, living presence, I feel a sense of collaboration with the River. Each offering is distinctive.
Rochelle Summerfield’s art practice is deeply influenced by her connections and experiences with the rivers and streams where she lives. Through experimentation and play, Rochelle’s drawings and installations include artworks that collaborate with the river as part of the process. Drawings embrace working over river sediment or the process of river staining and blending of gouache colours: wet in wet in the pouring rain, and wet on dry in the studio.
Rochelle hopes to raise an appreciation and respect for this vital lifeblood, the River.
ARTIST TALK
Time | 11am Sunday 7th May
Venue | Grafton Regional Gallery Courtyard Gallery
Cost | Entry by donation
Bookings are requested for this free event for catering. You can make a booking here.
Grafton Regional Gallery is wheelchair & mobility aid accessible.
An all ages, all inclusive, all community, afternoon!
5 April – 8 April 2023
River journeys is a multimedia installation exploring the connections between old trees and the River, and the importance of these trees for the ecosystem. Hopeful Disruptions is an evolving project to connect art, environment, and community. Artists are Debbie Taylor, Painting and mixed media, Rochelle Summerfield, Drawing and installation, Tracy Pateman, Silversmith and small metals and Will Rodgers Acoustic Ecologist and Musician.
Rochelle Summerfield’s art practice is deeply influenced by her connections and experiences with the rivers and streams where she lives. Through experimentation and play, Rochelle’s drawings and installations include artworks that collaborate with the river as part of the process. Drawings embrace working over river sediment or the process of river staining and blending of gouache colours: wet in wet in the pouring rain, and wet on dry in the studio.
Rochelle hopes to raise an appreciation and respect for this vital lifeblood, the River.
Plunge part of the Clarence Valley Arts & Cultural Festival
Date | Open to public 5 April – 8 April. Closed Good Friday
Hours | Wednesday 5th April 10-3pm, and Thursday 6th April 10-3pm and Saturday morning 9-1pm
Where | Shop 6, 31 Skinner Street, South Grafton
Cost | Free
Info | https://www.hopefuldisruptions.org
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/HopefulDisruptions/
Image: Tracy Pateman, ‘Spoonbills’, metal work, photo courtesy of Tracy Pateman.
‘Confluence’
10 December 2022- 29 January 2023
BLUE MOUNTAINS CULTURAL CENTRE KATOOMBA
3 artists Installation
Rochelle Summerfield, Tracy Pateman, Will Rodgers
in
WATER: presence & absence
Curator Rilka Oakley
‘Confluence’ artists are:
Rochelle Summerfield, 2.5m x 3.5m drawings (River sediment, mud, gouache, and pencil) and wall paintings (gouache pencil)
Tracy Pateman, Silversmith and small metal works.
Will Rodgers, Acoustic Ecologist and musician, site specific recordings and editing.
https://hopefuldisruptions.bandcamp.com/album/confluence
‘Confluence’ is an installation that was a part of Water: presence & absence, curator Rilka Oakley, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre and the photos are courtesy of BMCC and photo credit is to silversalt.
This exhibition explores the urgent need for awareness around our most precious resource – water. Without water all forms of life perish. Globally our water sources are threatened by mining, industry and over population. In Australia we fight similar battles with government’s prioritising mining over the health and longevity of our water systems while drought ravages the country. Artists around the world are engaging with the crisis humans have placed on the planet. Many are exploring the importance of healthy water systems to our survival as a species. Artists include local Blue Mountains and national artists whose work investigates water as a theme.
Catalogue created by Rilka Oakley – Artistic Program Leader, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre.
A Blue Mountains City Council Planetary Health Initiative
A Blue Mountains City Art Gallery Exhibition curated by Rilka Oakley
This project was supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW


Habitat
A group exhibition
Mist Gallery
Shop 1B-51 Tweed Coast Rd, Cabarita Beach
Opening 8th of September 2022
P: 0419 870 305

5 artists
Seelands School of Art Hall, Seelands
Plunge, Clarence Valley Arts & Cultural Festival 2022
Opening 2nd – 3rd April 2022
Artists: Deb Taylor, Rochelle Summerfield, Tracy Pateman, Will Rodgers and new artist Louise Lavarack.
The Sanctuary Tree Project – multimedia installation representing the importance of old trees. Will Rodgers, Tracy Pateman and Rochelle Summerfield
Mapping Project – the next stage of showing positive environmental efforts in the Clarence Valley, Debbie Taylor & Tracy Pateman
Feral shadows Rochelle Summerfield and including Bush lemon Project Tracy Pateman
The Flooded Forest Louise Laverack
The artists: Deb Taylor: Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr mixed media artist, Will Rodgers: sound & ecological recordings, Tracy Pateman: fine metal work, Bush Lemon Project, Rochelle Summerfield: shadow plays and drawings. And new artist Louise Lavarack: Conceptual artist & installation work.
Hopeful Disruptions: Caring for Biirrinba
6 artists
Cowper Art Gallery & Studio
Clarence Valley
Opening 9th April – 2nd May 2021
The project is beginning with the first show at the Cowper Art Gallery and Studio. Hopeful Disruptions is made up of six artists: Deborah Taylor is a Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung woman (Paintings), Malcolm King (Photography Print) Julie McKenzie (Painting Sculpture) Tracy Pateman (Metalwork and Sculpture) Will Rodgers (Soundscape ) Rochelle Summerfield (Works on paper and metal mobile)
A major part of the project is to create a dynamic map of the Clarence Valley that represents all environmental efforts going on in the Valley. During the open studio, we are hoping people doing environment work will help us to document their work and include it in the map. After the show at Cowper Art Gallery, we will upload and maintain the map on our website and (with appropriate permission) start to link it with other websites that represent people and organisations who are doing environmental work.
This program is proudly funded by the NSW Government through Arts Restart. This program is supported by Arts Northern Rivers. The project is working with Landcare (Townsend Nursery) and Maclean Lions Club (Environment). The Cowper Gallery has very kindly donated their time and space to the project during the 2021 Clarence Valley plunge Arts and Culture Festival.


Irreverent Matter
10 artists
Penelope Cain, Dean Cross, Chris Dolman, Liam Garstang, Rew Hanks, Deborah Kelly, Pia Larsen, Janet Parker-Smith, Rochelle Summerfield and Sandra Winkworth.
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre
Gymea, Sydney
Opening 26th March – 13th April 2021


Doomed Innocent
30 August – 26 September 2020
SLOT Window Gallery
38 Botany Rd, Alexandria, Sydney

Photo credit Tony Twigg of SLOT Window Gallery, Sydney
‘Crossroads’
solo show
Western Plains Cultural Centre
7th December 2019 – February 2020
The exhibition aims to reconnect people to our precious river systems and deeply appreciate their value, beyond economics. Rochelle says “Our rivers are the lifeline to a multitude of communities- people, wildlife and habitat. When we connect with the natural habitat, we feel a lightness of spirit and improve our health and well-being. Humans benefit from rich biodiverse landscapes.”
Her works ask us to come to our own understanding of the value we place on our natural environment. Ultimately Crossroads is a show that asks us to reflect on the choices we make moving forward; as we enter a new realm where the loss that is occurring may be irreversible. At the heart of it all Summerfield wants us to reflect on the consequences of a future that could potentially worsen, and that each one of us has a part to play in this greater narrative.

Artist in Residence
Freemantle Arts Centre
16th – 30th September 2019
Concept, Design, Editor, Artist: Rochelle Summerfield, Dancer: Olivia Hendry, Videographer: Rakib Eric, Sound: Mason Vellios
Hazelhurst Artist Residency
22nd February – March 2019

Northern Rivers Contemporary
Sydney Art Fair
Paper Contemporary
Curator Akky van Ogtrop
Booth P03 ‘Paper Contemporary
September 2018

‘living the dream’ 4 artists based in Northern NSW, are full time artists who creatively make works on paper.
‘As far as the eye can see’
Logan Art Gallery, Queensland
27 July to 1 September 2018

‘Little Textural Beauties’
Community workshop program at Logan Art Gallery 2018

‘Artstate Lismore’
Regional Arts NSW in partnership with Arts Northern Rivers
30 November – 3December 2017

During this program I was given the opportunity to have a projection of my animation ‘Warning Remote Areas Ahead’ on the Quad, back of the Conservatorium of Music, Lismore.
‘As far as the eye can see’
Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
12 November – 15 January 2017

As far as the eye can see is an exhibition of works by prominent Australian printmakers investigating their local landscapes. It celebrates the breadth and depth of printmaking practice in Australia today and is a stunning reflection of Australia’s unique and varied geography. The artists express their stories and relationships to the land through a variety of print media, describing the vast scale or intimate detail of our diverse natural environment. As far as the eye can see portrays the similarities and differences of coastal, mountain, desert and island terrain all contained within our country.
Printmaking has a history of being a dynamic and innovative media that is constantly embracing new technologies. The exhibition includes printmakers working in traditional print mediums such as etching, woodcut and lino block. It also showcases some of the innovative print techniques currently being used by printmakers.
Windmill Trust 20th Years Scholarship
Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA)
4 September – 22 October 2017

Northern Rivers Contemporary
Sydney Art Fair
Paper Contemporary
Curator Akky van Ogtrop
Booth P04 ‘Paper Contemporary
7 – 10 September 2017

Participating Artists: Christine Willcocks, Leonie Lane, Rochelle Summerfield, Travis Paterson, Scott Trevelyan. A selection of contemporary works on paper presented during Paper Contemporary.
Rochelle Summerfield – A Wayfarer on the Nepean.
At Penrith Regional Gallery & the Lewers Bequest
4 March – 21 May 2017
The artist finds inspiration in riverscapes, and was strongly drawn to the Nepean – so much so she camped at the nearby riverside caravan park during her three-week professional artist’s residency last December. Each day Rochelle walked or bicycled from the caravan park to The Gallery along the banks of the Nepean River. She records her experience of the Nepean River as one of contradiction and love.
“I explored the river banks, felt summer’s heat and relished the shade of the trees. I observed the houses encroaching on the vegetation needed to stabilize the banks. I felt sadness at litter arrogantly left behind. I witnessed the community’s affection for the river partaking in picnics, weddings, swimming, boating and exercising. I thought about how the Nepean River is part of this city and its identity, and yet also estranged and neglected like so many of our rivers.”
‘Local Provenance’
The Boyd Gallery
Tweed Regional Gallery
15 July –4 December 2016

Local Provenance is a botanical term which describes plants grown from locally collected seed. This exhibition presents the work of twelve printmakers who live and work in the Lismore, Tweed, Byron, Kyogle or Grafton regions, or who trained locally in the printmaking studios at Southern Cross University. If we think of the university studios as a hothouse, then other gardening notions proliferate; seeding, germination, pollination, seed dispersal and regeneration. The development of these artists’ careers, from their local seeding to their current status as artists of national significance, can be described in these terms. Importantly, local institutions such as the Lismore, Grafton and Tweed Regional Galleries might be thought of as elaborate trellises that have supported the growth of these artists, and their collections are also acknowledged in this exhibition.
‘Future Public’
Public Art
Artlands Regional Arts Conference
Victoria Park, Dubbo
October 27 – 30, 2016

The curator Alex Wisser wrote, “The exhibition title ‘Future Public’ has been chosen because it communicates the exhibition’s intention to stretch boundaries and thinking about what is and can be public art. The works are ‘propositional’ in nature, and while they will not need to be permanent artworks, they will need to exist in an outdoors environment for four days at least.”
Public Art Project- 2016 Graffiti Wall Mural
Grafton Regional Gallery Carpark
September 2016

As the facilitator, we worked on two collage workshops, preparing and making the collage figures, then exploring them as drawings and paintings. Once scaled up, each young person worked on their character, and as a group we jointly painted the river in springtime, with the purple blooms of the Jacaranda trees. The mural is 2100mmh x 9700mmlong and was in the gallery carpark for 6 months.
‘Indicators Show Depth’
solo show
Grafton Regional Gallery
Main West Gallery
11 May – 2 July 2016

Summerfield lives on the Clarence River in north-eastern New South Wales. It is one of the most beautiful and striking regions of Australia, this exhibition explores her relationship with the Clarence River since moving there 5 years ago.
Writer Rebecca Gallo
‘This is She’
Curator Rochelle Summerfield
31 March – 30 April
2016 Plunge Clarence Valley Arts and Culture Festival

Local artist Rochelle Summerfield was commissioned by Arts Northern Rivers to curate part of the Pop Up and is taking the opportunity to showcase female artists from the Clarence Valley.
Curator Rochelle Summerfield “This is She celebrates women artists of the Clarence Valley at the Pop Up Hub, Yamba, Plunge. I chose works that reflected women’s experience of this landscape, its history and lifestyle. I found multifaceted approaches by creative women speaking of their experiences. This Clarence Valley story begins with Frances Belle Parker through beautifully stitched fine linen- tells of her indigenous family history that is bound to the Yaegl landscape and the river that runs through it- a story of love, identity and dispossession. Artist Tracy Pateman, tells a classical Greek tale of the underworld set in the rolling hills of the Clarence Valley engraved in metals of copper and silver. The story of fire, memory and loss is told in delicate charcoal drawings by Sue Harris. This story also celebrates the dedication of being a woman artist at 83 years old- in quiet reflection and study of still life- by Pat Jenkins.” It is a contemporary story of our rich cultural legacy expressed through a diversity of media by women as only the arts can tell. Grateful thanks to Arts Northern Rivers NSW.
‘Aberrant Play’
Grafton Regional Gallery
Main Gallery
19 August – 11 October 2015

Artists- Claude Jones (Sydney and Munich), Jenny Kitchener (Kyogle), Leonie Lane (Clunes), Bill Moseley (Hill End), Janet Parker-Smith (Sydney), Rochelle Summerfield (Seelands) and Sandra Winkworth (Sydney).
‘Subject to Flooding’
formerly Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
7th Oct- 1st Nov 2014

L-R: ‘Caressing’ ‘Ruminating’
Chromogenic Prints, 61cm x 73cm
I recently moved to the Clarence Valley for love and found the mighty Clarence River. It’s been quite an adventure of discovery with my new relationship and a rural life that includes historical floods, fire and wildlife.Subject to flooding takes inspiration from this environment.
A small tributary off the mighty Clarence River meanders inland to an unknown and secret place, where lit by dappled sunlight perches a painted kingfisher and a collaged female form pondering the meaning of life, art and nature. She is what the body can be. She is my heroine. She is a beast, often flamboyant and may have wings when she wants to soar.
‘InConversation’
Spectrum Project Space
Edith Cowan University, Mt Lawley, Western Australia
9 October – 24 October 2014
The project was part of a curated cross-disciplinary/cross-art form collaborative exhibition in October 2014 at Spectrum Project Space, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA. My drawing animated series contribution came from ‘The Elements Within Series’ an ironical look at the domestic chaos of our busy lives.
Freemantle Artist Residency
September 2013

‘She’s Hunting House’
Branch3d
Forest Lodge, Sydney.
21 April – 18 May 2013

I’m interested in ideas on the grotesque and fable, and how they elicit qualities of otherness, transformation, discovery and humour. I work with collage as the classical cut and paste as well as the contemporary cut and paste of the digital space and the hybridization of photographic and print media. The outside fragment brings the potential for imagination and invention to the pictorial field.
‘Going Gaga for Dada’
Brenda May Gallery
21 August – Saturday, 8 September, 2012

It is not easy to reference, much less celebrate, the work of Dada artists. By its very nature the Dadaist art movement self-destructs at the mere hint of mainstream acceptance. And yet here is Going Gaga for Dada – a dedication to the Dadaist chaos, nonsense and whimsy – so compelling and so deliciously relevant, it reminds the viewer that there is still plenty to be protesting about.
Dada, the artistic and literary manifesto of nonsense, originated in Europe during World War I as a protest against the atrocities the war was bringing to the artists’ front doors. Out of disgust for a seemingly senseless war, the likes of Duchamp and Tzara created works intended to be provocatively absurd, as a metaphorical thumbing of the nose, if you like.
Here, curator and Dada scholar Akky van Ogtrop seeks to, like the Dadaists, define the undefinable, with contemporary mixed media such as collages, books, zines, posters and sculpture. And while the Dadaist references in colour, composition and typography are frank and fierce, this exhibition still feels fresh, germane and utterly evocative.
Here, the iconic, horrifying irony of Dada is manifested (Richard Tipping, the ‘Gift’ and is joined by an ironing board (Dianne Beevers, ‘Bristling’) as absurdly inoperable at the iron itself. Dianne Longley’s ceramics are wicked: the placement of Tim Burton-like baddies on the domesticity of plates is nightmarishly good. A giggle at the ‘Chicken Tank’ (Will Coles) will lead your mind to questions of power in politics, and the anxiety of Rochelle Summerfield’s tumultuous cityscapes will evoke the words of Dadaist Hugo who lamented that “words emerge, shoulders of words, legs, arms – Dada is the heart of words.”
‘Aha’ Mutable Face
Master of Arts, by Research
Southern Cross University, Lismore, 2006


