At PICA we recognise that we are situated within the unceded lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We pay our respects and offer our gratitude to Elders past and present. We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the importance of their care and continued connection to culture, community and Country.

Always was, always will be.

Galleries are open 12–5pm. Our exhibitions are always free.

May Bluebell

Quick Response Artist-in-Residence

Quick Response Artist-in-Residence

During her Quick Response residency, May Bluebell will develop a new body of work grounded in a recent return trip to the Pilbara, an area she spent much of her childhood. Walking familiar tracks behind the town, she traced fragments of memory in rocks and hidden corners. The resulting body of work will explore the tension between beauty and decay, presence and absence, memory and erasure within this landscape.  

About the artist

May Bluebell creates abstract landscapes inspired by childhood memories of Australian places. With a background in design and fine art, she builds compositions through bold colours, pared-back organic forms and layered textures. Her mixed media practice weaves together photography, collage, painting and printmaking. Her work explores the connection between memory and place. Growing up in a small mining town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the red desert landscape remains a powerful and recurring presence. Bluebell’s practice reflects the tension between beauty and isolation, presence and absence. She probes how personal and collective memories evolve, uncovering the emotional and psychological resonance embedded in landscapes. Rather than representing places as they physically were, her work captures how they are remembered and how those memories persist and transform within the imagination. 

Supporters

PICA’s Studio Program is supported by PICA’s Art Ambassadors