Forming the Eye: This week at Red Gallery

My favourite kind of art is one that asks something of the viewer. Works that seek to engage with you long after you've averted your eyes. This week at Red, our artists have posed the question - at what point is art, art? When does play elevate itself to the sacred object that adorns the walls, to be admired by many?

Installation view of Silent Ground, featuring works by Connie Wong, Red Gallery, Melbourne, October 2026.

Connie Wong’s work seeks to express what most of us find impossible to put into words. The thing we all undoubtedly feel, but don’t necessarily see. Silent Ground seeks present love as the uniting driver that connects us, and amplifies care work as a persistent labour of this love. The notion of the silent is brought to life in Wong’s expressive lines, her colours give light and warmth. Her brushstrokes are in perpetual movement as the symbolic marker of the love that keeps a community strong. The opening of Silent Ground coincided with National Carer’s Week, highlighting Wong's personal connection and advocacy for unpaid care work. In turn we are witness to a body of work that is much like its maker- bright, fluid, and held by a persistent drive that lives below the surface.

Installation view of Chop & Change, featuring works by Rachel Tai, Red Gallery, Melbourne, October 2026.

Rachel Tai’s work is borne from experimentation. With a grounding in collage, it draws connection to the ‘chance collages’ of Dada, a movement that sought to expand upon preexisting notions of fine art. Tai expands upon the layering of images, proceeding to memorialize these relationships of forms in paint. The resulting works span the spectrum of figuration and abstraction, appearing both fluid and organic, then complex, dark and geometric. In oil she unites these opposing forces, without looking laboured or fraught. Brief snippets of canvas remind us of the kinetic and materially-centred nature of Tai’s process. Her paintings feel familiar, with small nods to recognisable forms- a piece of fabric, an excerpt of a letter. Her layers then confuse and abstract the eye, forming visuals that you could spend many minutes seeking to comprehend.

Installation view of Seventh Day, featuring works by Tracy Potts, Red Gallery, Melbourne, October 2026.

Tracy Potts doesn’t just question the order of things, she scoffs at it. Her statement directs a playful cynicism at the story of creationism, and with this critical eye she’s crafted creations of her own. Suspended by a myriad collection of beaded string, ribbon and ties, Tracy’s creatures surround the space, swaying gently in Potts’ newly formed universe. These creatures hold a mix of stitching, weaving, patchwork and beading, grown in stages in accordance with Tracy's intuitive practice of artmaking. These creatures appear cheerful and eyecatching upon first glance, but the true complexity of Tracy's work can only be fully appreciated up close, amongst layers of threads, beads and textile. Here we can draw a historical line between Pott’s intricate stitches and the weavers that came before her, creating forms that quietly held us all together for eons.

Installation view of Contemplating Colour, featuring works by Sandra McMahon, Red Gallery, Melbourne, 21 September 2026

Sandra McMahon’s compositions form an education of the aesthetic elements. Here we witness the building blocks of design broken down, studied, and reiterated in her Contemplating Colour series. It is evident that McMahon is a well-practiced communicator of aesthetic form, having spent a long career as both an art educator and valuer. Material forms the foundation of her work, present in the visible grain of the wood that holds the deftly delicate washes of colour. McMahon’s colours oscillate in opacity, encouraging the eye to dart constantly between her dynamic shapes. These tow the line between painting and sculpture, with layers that lift away from the board and ever so slightly protrude out from space. Her works are perfectly nestled within Gallery 4, allowing you to be fully immersed in this masterclass of colour, shape and form.

Together, we see a body of works that encourage you into conversation. Not forcefully, but playfully- with experimentation, reflection and a gentle guidance that lingers with you long after the show.

Written by Pascalle Bailey, a member of Red Gallery team.

Exhibition Moments

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Forming the Eye: This week at Red Gallery

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