Serpentine Arts - Go Figure

Go Figure
Opening 11 - 21 July 2025.

The human figure—our oldest muse—is at the heart of Go Figure, a bold and eclectic group exhibition showcasing the work of 25 local artists. Opening 11 July at the Serpentine Community Gallery, this exhibition celebrates the figure in all its complexity: as a vessel of beauty, a bearer of political metaphor, and a mirror of emotion, humour, and desire.

Across sculpture, drawing, printmaking, and painting, Go Figure presents a diverse and thought-provoking range of approaches to the human form. From realism to the surreal, from the erotic to the earnest, these works explore what it means to be human—body and soul.

Throughout history, the figure has been art’s most enduring motif. It’s carried the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, echoed the aspirations of ancient Greece, and passed down the Dreaming stories of First Nations Peoples. In Go Figure, the tradition continues—alive, local, and powerfully contemporary.

Fallen Angel, Sorbus aucuparia by Elena Matiussi-Pimm, ink on paper 46 x 56 cm

Fallen Angel, sorbus aucauparia, by recent TAFE graduate Elena Matiussi- Pimm is a high-quality drawing showing a pale woman being held in place by a force greater than herself. A vivid metaphor for entanglement, the title of this work involves the scientific name of the Rowan tree a European plant that has mythic associations with Thor and Witchcraft.

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Rhonda Armistead Natures Embrace ink and oil on canvas 70 x 70cm

Michelle Jones, Reverence, Oil on board, 63 x 63cm

Reverence is a self-portrait born from vulnerability and defiance. Through the textured strokes of my back—curved, scarred, and unapologetically real—I explore the story my spine has written into my body. Scoliosis altered my silhouette, and surgery carved its memory deep into my skin, yet these are not deformities. They are the paths I’ve tread to become whole. These lines are not symbols of imperfection- they are stories etched in flesh.

This piece confronts the narrow definitions of feminine beauty that favor smooth symmetry and unblemished skin. In contrast, offers a different narrative—one that honors the asymmetrical, the marked, the lived-in body. My scar is not a flaw to be hidden, but a reminder of survival and strength, of pain transformed into growth.

The red fabric cradling my lower back evokes both softness and power, grounding this image in both struggle and grace. Here, beauty is not passive—it is earned, it is embodied, it is imperfect and unyieldingly honest.

This self-portrait is a reclamation—of body, of identity, of beauty. With oil and texture, I confront the curving spine that has shaped not only my body, but my sense of self. Scoliosis carved a path through my back,challenging traditional ideals of feminine beauty, which often idolize symmetry, softness, and flawlessness. Instead, it offers a vision of strength, vulnerability, and the raw truth of lived experience. My back is not an apology; it is a landscape. The scar does not mar me—it is my map, a reminder of what I’ve endured and who I’ve become.

Through this painting, I ask viewers to reconsider where beauty resides. Is it in smoothness, or is it in resilience? This work affirms that the body, however altered, remains worthy of reverence. Scars are not signs of brokenness—they are reminders that healing has taken place.

Home from Splendour by Paulette Hayes depicts a figure struck by lightning. The painted pattern is made on skin when lightening hits a human body. The fractal patterns caused by electrical discharges are called Lichtenberg figures. This piece reminds us of the body’s relationship to elemental forces like electricity. It also embodies a strange beauty.

Paulette Hayes, Home from Splendour, Mixed media, 45 x 32 cm

The Waterfall by Kim Coleman, Acrylic on canvas, 51 x 76 cm.

Self Portrait by Kim Coleman, Acrylic paint and fabric, 42 x 51 cm.

Tilt by Kim Coleman, Acrylic on canvas 46 x 46cm.