Children and families can take part in a range of fun art-making activities by contemporary Australian artist Natalya Hughes when ‘The Castle of Tarragindi on Tour’ comes to the Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery on 16 & 18 January.

Developed in collaboration with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), ‘The Castle of Tarragindi on Tour’ invites audiences to create their own digital hybrid creature, decorate and assemble a 3D object, make elaborate patterns using printed paper, and take part in self-portrait drawing activities.

Hughes creates paintings, textiles, sculptures and installations informed by decorative and ornamental traditions. In ‘The Castle of Tarragindi’, the artist has chosen to explore ‘grotesque’ design, a specific tradition of ornament known for its hybridity.

‘The Castle of Tarragindi on Tour’ features a striking blue and white palette inspired by a grotesque castle interior by French designer, architect, and engraver Jean Bérain (1640–1711). Hughes has also included imagery of things that are important to her in the activity materials – such as the Australian flora and fauna found close to her home in the Brisbane suburb of Tarragindi. As part of the project, children will be able to view an introductory video where Hughes shares her thoughts on the inspiration and concepts behind ’The Castle of Tarragindi’.

Queensland Art Gallery l Gallery of Modern Art Director Chris Saines said the free program would be presented at more than 200 regional and remote venues across all 77 Queensland and Torres Strait Councils areas including 17 First Nation Councils from January through to June 2024.

‘The regional tour of the program from Boigu Island to Birdsville and Millaroo to Middlemount occurs as ‘Natalya Hughes: The Castle of Tarragindi’ continues at the Children’s Art Centre at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane until 14 July 2024,’ Mr Saines said.

Natalya Hughes (b.1971) completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane in 2001 and a PhD in Art Theory at the College of Fine Art (UNSW) in 2009. She currently lectures in Fine Art and Expanded Practice at the Queensland College of Art, Brisbane.

Hughes has exhibited her work at numerous museums and institutions including Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (2019, 2017 and 2012), QUT Art Museum Brisbane (2016), Artspace Sydney (2016), Hazelhurst Regional Gallery (2015), Performance Space (2012), Parliament House Canberra (2014), UQ Art Museum, Brisbane (2010), Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne (2009) and Tarrawarra Museum of Art, VIC (2006).

Hughes was a finalist in both the Sulman Prize at Art Gallery of NSW and the National Works on Paper Prize at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery in 2018, as well as the 2017 Ramsay Art Prize at Art Gallery of South Australia.

For more information visit www.qagoma.qld.gov.au