New collection, Fruits Of Their Labour
Fruits of Their Labour
2025
Artist Statement
This collection is a love letter to my childhood;
my upbringing, my heritage, and the strength of those who paved the way.
I am the granddaughter of immigrants, raised in the city by the coast, and I spent much of my childhood at my Italian grandparents home. My Nonna and Nonno lived simply, but their world was rich with meaning. A single flower from the garden became a centrepiece. Their hands were always busy — sewing, harvesting, creating. I loved being by their side, surrounded by the scent of the garden and home cooked meals, the warmth of homegrown love.
The life I live now is a direct result of their sacrifices, and this body of work carries both the visible and invisible fruits of their labour — a name that holds a layered meaning, and a piece of my heart.
One of the most vivid memories I hold is of my grandparents front garden, where giant dahlias bloomed in bursts of yellow and pink. The garden was my Nonno’s pride and joy. People would leave notes of admiration, and during the season, I never left without a bouquet in my arms — lovingly picked by my Nonno and Nonna.
My grandparents have since passed, but their presence lingers in every petal, every memory. The dahlia, to me, is more than a flower — it’s a symbol of their enduring love and quiet wisdom. The butterfly, too, has become a gentle reminder that they are still with us — watching over us in the small, beautiful moments that echo the past.
Though I grew up in the city, my childhood felt anything but urban. My mother, an animal lover, filled our home with life — ducks, rabbits, chickens, fish, birds, dogs, cats — an ever-growing menagerie that shaped my earliest memories. Weekends were often spent riding horses with my sister, chasing a kind of freedom only found in nature. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to travel and to live by the ocean — and I’ve come to see salt water as a kind of therapy. There’s something about being near the sea that resets everything — it grounds me, clears my head, and brings me back to myself.
Creating this collection has been more than painting — it’s been a journey inward. A process of remembering, honouring, and feeling. It demanded both emotional and physical endurance, and brought me to tears as often as it made me smile. These works blur the line between reality and imagination — childhood recollections softened by time, made vivid again through colour and form.
More than any collection before it, Fruits of Their Labour brings me home — to the garden, the animals, the laughter, the love. It’s a story of roots and remembrance, painted in gratitude and grown from the hands that shaped me.
New Collection launching May 8th at the Affordable Art Fair in Brisbane, Australia.
Prints will be available online on the 9th May 2025 AEST.