About Joolie Gibbs
Born in Maryborough and raised in Hervey Bay, I could say I am parochial in my love for the wallum environment. Living now in Gympie, I have been influenced by my natural surroundings more than I realised. After completing my Master of Art in Visual Art (MAVA) in 2014 at Griffith University Queensland College of Art, my practice became more environmental as I found meaning and new direction in my artwork through connections with the Mary River and the region.
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While Director of the Gympie Regional Gallery for 23 years, I still found time to keep my practice alive by exhibiting, competing and having my work accepted for two Flying Arts Alliance touring Regional Art Awards and exhibitions in various galleries in South East Queensland.
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Using my strong drawing skills and leaning towards the integrity of natural inks, I have documented my immediate surroundings including insects from my 5-acre property, the surrounding wallum bushland, and the effects of the Mary River in flood, as seen in my ‘Flood Language’ series. I often work on paper on a large scale (up to 9m) down to minute drawings, and incorporate the macro/micro easily. My environmental approach also branches into mediums like papermaking and basketmaking.
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Education
2014 Master of Art in Visual Art (MAVA), Queensland College of Art
2011 Cert IV Local Government - Community & Cultural Development
2004 Cert IV Museum & Gallery Practice
1983 General Advertising, (Communication & Copywriting) Sydney TAFE
1976 Diploma of Fine & Applied Art, Otago Polytechnic New Zealand
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Awards
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2023 Finalist and Winner People's Choice Award, Girra: Fraser Coast National Art Award
2023 Highly Commended, Clayton Utz Art Award 2023
2022 Finalist and Winner, People's Choice Award, Du Rietz Art Awards, Gympie Regional Gallery
2022 Finalist, The Doyles Art Award, Mudgeeraba Memorial Hall
2021 Finalist, Lyn McCrea Memorial Drawing Prize, Noosa Regional Gallery
2015 Winner, Landscape Prize, Mary Valley Art Festival
2014 Highly Commended, Human Form/Portraiture Prize, Mary Valley Art Festival
2013 Winner, Human Form/Portraiture Prize, Mary Valley Art Festival
2012 Winner, inaugural Andrew Fisher Portrait Prize, Gympie
2010 Winner, Individual Paid Category, Gallery and Museum Achievement Awards
1994 Winner, Gympie & District Chamber of Commerce Logo Competition
1994 Winner, Cooloola Shire Council Heritage Art Competition
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Exhibitions - Solo
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2023 Meet The Bells, Gatakers Artspace, Maryborough QLD 21/4/23-4/6/23
2017 Flood Language: The Big and the Little, Gatakers Artspace, Maryborough QLD
2016 Flood Language 2, Gayndah Regional Gallery
2014 Flood Language 2, Noosa Regional Gallery
2014 Flood Language, Gatakers Artspace, Maryborough QLD
Exhibitions - Group
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2024 about-place / about-face, Caloundra Regional Gallery 11/05/24-16/06/24
2023 Wildflowering by Design, Touring Exhibiiton, 2023-2024
2023 Paper: All Stitched Up, Touring Exhibition 2023-2024
2023 22.96 | receding, Gympie Regional Gallery
2023 More Than The Sum Of Its Parts, Noosa Regional Gallery
2022 Vessels, Old Ambulance Station Galleries, Nambour
2022 Wildflowering by Design, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery
2022 Paint The Town, Flying Arts Regional Art Awards Tour 2022-2023
2022 Sketchy, Gympie Regional Gallery
2022 CAGR Members Exhibition, Alluvial Gallery, Gympie
2021 Duets: Collaborations In Creativity, The River That Flows, Gympie Regional Gallery
2021 Prints From The Border, Texas Regional Art Gallery
2021 Impressed 3, Printmaking Exhibition, Gatakers Artspace, Maryborough
2020 Wildflower Women 111, Gympie Regional Gallery
2019 Moth Migration Project, Gympie Regional Gallery, touring exhibition
2018 Tree Place, Noosa Regional Gallery
2018 Wanderlust, Flying Arts Regional Art Awards, touring Queensland
2018 Tall Trees Art Exhibition, Cooran
2016 Paper Bespoke, Papermakers of Queensland, Cooroy Butter Factory
2015 Vital Signs, Flying Arts Regional Art Awards, touring Queensland
2015 Tall Trees Art Exhibition, Cooran
2014 Into Paper, Papermakers of Queensland, Redcliffe City Gallery, 2015 Gympie Regional Gallery, Gallery 159, Brisbane
2013 Queensland College of Art, MAVA exhibition, Pop Gallery, South Brisbane
2013 Cooloola Art Society inc. 40th Birthday exhibition, Gympie Regional Gallery
2012 Papermakers of Queensland, Brisbane City Library
2012 Berbagi, Papermakers of Queensland, University of Sunshine Coast Gallery
2011 Bug Eyed, Gympie Regional Gallery
2008 10th Birthday exhibition, Gympie Regional Gallery
2007 One Hundred Years, One Hundred Voices 100th Birthday exhibition for School of Arts, Gympie Regional Gallery
1998 Once was a Tree, Gympie Regional Gallery
1998 Correspondence, Collective installation of works by Queensland Papermakers.
1997 Tracks to Cooloola, My Country Gallery, Gympie
1995 Paper, Papermakers of Queensland, Queensland Museum
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Presentations
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2015 Artist-in-Residence in Sam Rit, Thailand (2 weeks)
2014 Waterwheel World Water Day Symposium 2014. Now an ebook.