Secret Garden | Saint Cloche
To finish a year like no other, Saint Cloche is inviting a Secret Garden to the heart of Paddington.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Jacqui Turk
As an antithesis to modern life with technology at our fingertips and an eternal bombardment of information, Secret Garden at Saint Cloche in Sydney’s Paddington is a private art-filled escape for city dwellers this December to January.
Located in the upstairs level —a first for the gallery— curator Kitty Clark has invited a host of artists who all explore dreamy notions of faraway places. Saint Cloche artists like abstract painter Saxon Quinn and ceramicist Alex Xerri are joined by guest artists such as still life painter Olympia Antoniadis and quirky sculptor Fiona Alvarez.
Inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic novel ‘The Secret Garden’, the gallery takes shape as a landscaping and art fusion, with Adam Robinson creating a lush, immersive green space for the art to hang within.
“Plants enhance everything and bring life-force and energy,” shares the landscape designer. “It makes perfect sense to have curated living plants integrated into the art exhibition as one presentation because the whole message of Secret Garden is about transformation through connection to nature.”
“The narrative for this exhibition is that now is the time to plant seeds of positivity and vision in our collective Secret Garden – however that may manifest within each artist’s work,” says Kitty Clark. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
‘The Secret Garden’ is a metaphor for the cultivation of the human mind and the power of positive thinking. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
“I love the varied personifications of each artist’s ‘Secret Garden’ and the vibrant dystopian hues that contrast with the sensitively familiar dreamscape palette.”
“When we nurture nature, nature nourishes us in return – we are one really,” says Adam Robinson from Adam Robinson Design. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
In a mix of antique aesthetics and fun pops of colour, art intersects theatrical pom-poms-like topiary buxus and prehistoric-looking Ceropegia dichotoma. Kitty shares that intrigue and discovery are built through monolithic symbols, archaic forms and textures in Ella Bendrup’s clay sculptures. At the same time, the curator is seduced by the alluring landscapes of Justin Scivetti—akin to a narrative set in a Frances Hodgson Burnett story.
Also joining the art and foliage are selected design pieces from Robert Plumb on the gallery’s balcony—providing a space to stop and take in the surroundings. “Elements like the Loop chair by Willy Guhl and Porto stool/side table for Swisspearl —they are made from a blend of cement, powdered limestone, cellulose and synthetic fibres, water and air— they appear like natural fossils within the space,” Adam adds.
The show takes on a more profound direction as Kitty reflects on her grandmother’s well-loved garden in Malaysia — who is now in her 90s and unable to see her grandchild due to covid. “I loved watching her tend to her garden, cultivate it, she has the most amazing orchid collection. Being in her garden was revitalising and also gave me solace,” Kitty contemplates. “Secret Garden is an ode to my grandmother, the love of plants she has passed down to me and mother nature’s healing powers.”
Saint Cloche’s Secret Garden may be the connection we have all been missing as art and nature join forces for serenity and calm — as Kitty urges, use this an excuse to take a moment, relax and rejuvenate.
“This installation is about finding beauty in its most simple form. I am putting some of the most abstract and unusual plants in the spotlight.”
Whisper by Justin Scivetti, at the Secret Garden exhibition at Saint Cloche. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
Ceramic artist Ella Bendrup’s ceramic pieces at Saint Cloche. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
“I hope guests take away a sense of serenity and calm, at the end of viewing the exhibition they can sit on our balcony, breathe and take a moment, to relax, rejuvenate, enjoy the lush surrounds of the Paddington rooftops and in our very own mysteriously magical secret garden created by Adam Robinson,” says Kitty Clark. Photo - Jacqui Turk.
VISIT
SECRET GARDEN 10TH DECEMBER - 10TH JANUARY SAINT CLOCHE 37 MACDONALD, PADDINGTON, SYDNEY