Artists David Collins, Elisabeth Cummings, Sally Stokes, Belinda Street and Leah Thiessen were invited to spend a week at the Kelton Plain Property in Monaro in May 2021. This exhibition presents works produced during the residency. The life of an artist is typically one of solitude, so there is something very special when artists come together on an artist residency. The conversations and eating together, as well as the experience of place, light, sun, rain and changing temperatures, connect each of the artists together and to the landscape. A unique bond grows through being together and working apart.Each day the small group ventured into the landscape to make sense of the area’s vast grassy and wind-swept plains, granite rocks, twisted Eucalypts and expansive skies, all under the shadow of ‘The Snowies’. Extended time and experience in the rugged territory of Monaro allowed each to experience the rhythm and energy of the land; to sit in the landscape and to be in the moment, alert and attentive.However, how this harsh yet beautiful landscape speaks to each artist is different, and, through a unique individual creative process, each attempts to merge the physical with the emotional, using pencil, charcoal, pen and paint – to capture the essence of the Monaro Plain. Featuring en plein air studies and studio developed paintings, ‘Rhythms of the Monaro’ is the culmination of each artist’s time spent both at the residency and the memories interpreted back in their individual studios.The exhibition features work by five acclaimed and award-winning Australian artists: David Collins (Defiance Gallery), Elisabeth Cummings (King Street Gallery on William), Belinda Street, Sally Stokes and Leah Thiessen (Flinders Lane Gallery). For further information please contact Wagner Contemporary.