Then and Now: Wild Dogs reunite

The Wild Dogs from Down Under will reunite for one last time with exhibition “Then and Now” at the West Gippsland Arts Centre.

The exhibition, featuring past and present artworks from Eileen Harrison, Leonie Ryan, Gary Miles, Laurie Collins, Jenny Murray-Jones and Kerrie Warren, will open on Thursday and run throughout August.

The Wild Dogs from Down Under toured exhibition “Gippsland” from 2006 to 2008 through regional galleries in Victoria, Parliament House in Melbourne and on a cultural exchange to Warragul’s sister city in Jiujiang, China, before concluding at the West Gippsland Arts Centre.

“Then and Now” will feature artworks from the two-year “Gippsland” tour alongside current works, beautifully interwoven with story.

The six professional contemporary artists were initially drawn together by their love of Gippsland.

Kerrie remains living in Crossover, Gary in Drouin West and Laurie in Jindivick.

While Jenny now lives now Geelong, Leonie splits her time between Nilma and Port Douglas, and Eileen moved away before returning to Trafalgar, the six are still pursuing artistic pursuits, remain friends and look back at Wild Dogs from Down Under with great fondness.

Kerrie said all six artists had accomplished a great deal since 2008. Two became doctors, two became masters, Gary travelled, and Laurie has his own sculpture garden.

Kerrie said the simple idea of crossing the language barrier by highlighting Gippsland in China via a visual platform had a domino effect in terms of business and relationships.

“I’m so excited about it because it was such a massive project,” she said.

Eileen is looking forward to exhibiting with Wild Dogs from Down Under “one more time”.

“The highlights were travelling over to China, being invited into the other artists’ homes and having a look at their awesome work,” said Eileen.

Since that time, Eileen’s art has gone from strength to strength. She is proud of her involvement with a variety of community murals and recent NAIDOC Week celebrations.

She recently held exhibitions in Sale, Bairnsdale, Foster and Inverloch and is working towards another in Melbourne during November.

“I’m looking forward to this one (‘Then and Now’), it will be the last time,” said Eileen. “We’ve all stayed in touch and we’re great, close friends which is awesome.”

Reflecting on the Wild Dogs from Down Under journey, Leonie says “I feel really proud to be part of it all and what we all achieved.”

Leonie said the transportation of large artworks and sculptures to China would probably not be possible today.

“In hindsight, you sort of think I don’t know if we’d be able to do that now. We were either really lucky or naivety got us through. There was a bigger force helping us.”

“So, I think looking back, I think it’s a real achievement. A feather in your cap sort of thing.”

Leonie, who completed her Master of Fine Art in 2016, is currently working on sensory stimuli installations.

She believes in drawing the viewer into artworks via visual, smell and touch to create a more inclusive experience.