Meghan Byrne Solo Exhibition

OPENING NIGHT: The 9th of February 2024
6 – 9pm

BIOPHILIA brings together three definitive conceptual visions by Meghan Byrne. This is the first live viewing of each of these collections by Byrne that dives into the delectable and divine world of BIOPHILIA. Three collections - created over three years, all in one space!

In ‘Birds of a Feather’ Australian birds and their relationship to our equally distinctive flora are investigated. We see how Australian flora and fauna have developed alongside each other to be hearty and strong. ‘Unfurling Flowers’ captures the astonishing beauty and perpetual unfurling of the flower, where it’s exacting symmetry awakens us to natures secrets. Our imagination is captured in ‘Nest Heads’, while asking some pertinent questions relative to our modern life, as the Nest is used as a metaphor for the details and demands of the home sphere. Byrne’s aim is to convey an ultra-awareness that is beyond seeing with the eyes only, to render the extraordinary so that we feel awe.

‘Unfurling Flowers’ works to magnify the beauty of the flowering world so that it may be seen in a new context. Flowers embody cultural significance. They symbolise what words just cannot express. In their innate wisdom blossoms the timeless 'ever true' universal language. In the ancient Vedic tradition, the chakras are visualised as flowers. They are treated as part of the continuum from the physical to the metaphysical. The flowering stage has a particular effect on the human mind. For Byrne the practice of meditating on visualisation, supports the intention for a suspended calm to transcend the image.

What interests Byrne in ‘Birds of a Feather’ is our Australian bird life. Our isolated evolution has developed the most interesting and individual characteristics in flora and fauna. As Tim Low points out, it is the makeup of the bird fauna, that declares it as so distinctive. It can be seen through the bird’s life and their relationship to our equally distinctive flora and dependency on this flora for life. The way that our flora and fauna have developed alongside each other to be resilient, in such harsh conditions, makes our ecological system so unique. Byrne’s paintings intend to draw attention to our incredibly unique wildlife, especially the intelligent songbird, as Australia is the origin of all the worlds songbirds.

Inspired through a fascination with birds and their most beautiful and intricately woven nests, Byrne became intrigued with the process of nesting, giving birth to the ‘Nest Head’ collection. She came to see that commonly and especially throughout history, in the home women create the nest. The nest being ‘the comfortable home for sheltering young’.


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