Felicity Grabkowski embraces a range of media from charcoal and oil paint to recycled detritus; shifting from figurative to abstract terrain. Interested in a multi-disciplinary approach, she embraces experimentation across digital and traditional mediums; underpinned by her desire to inscribe the fleeting and ephemeral.
Felicity’s painting practice epitomises a preoccupation with expressive, biomorphic mark-making, arising from a sensory response to landscape. Flecks of studio and garden detritus interlace with traditional painting media in layered, colourful works which hold a sense of flux.
Broader material investigations focus on the fusion of natural and artificial elements, with an emphasis on recycled materials, and new technology. Works explore the possibilities of contemporary painting; branching out to photography, digital drawing, scanography and sculpture.
A fascination with art and ecology led Felicity to study design and landscape architecture prior to completing a Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours at RMIT School of Art in 2019. Primarily concerned with the capacity of abstract painting to capture a sense of immersion within landscape, Felicity draws inspiration from her Clare Valley based studio and untamed garden.
Felicity has held solo exhibitions in Melbourne and has work in private collections across Australia. She balances her art practice with mural painting, interior design, garden design and running a creative emporium in the Clare Valley which showcases the work of local artisans.
Exhibitions
2021
Solo exhibition, 1 December onwards, Emergence, The Alpine Hotel, Warburton, Yarra Valley
2020
Solo exhibition, 28 Feb-15 March, Entangled, Neon Parlour, Melbourne
2019
Group exhibition: Flesh, No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne CBD
Group exhibition: 'Seen & Heard', RMIT Sustainability Space, Melbourne CBD
Group exhibition: 'Portrait', Brunswick St Gallery, Brunswick
Solo exhibition: 'Undulations', Arts Centre, Warburton, Victoria
2017
Hoot Review literary magazine (online), Issue 62, USA (July 2017) - artwork accompanying poem, 'Nothing of Consequence' by Rosemary Jones
2015
Solo exhibition: 'Feathered Femmes', End of the Line Festival, Sooki Lounge, Belgrave, Victoria
RAW Canberra – Merge showcase, ACT
2014
Finalist, Inaugural Adelaide Parklands Art Prize, Festival Centre, South Australia
2013
Our Garden Suburb exhibition, M16 Artspace, Canberra, ACT
In Our Nature exhibition, Kaori Gallery, Canberra City Framing Gallery, ACT (in collaboration with Gemma Bonshek Kane (ceramicist)
Education
2019
Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours - School of Art, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)
2016 - 2018
Bachelor of Fine Art with Distinction - RMIT
2006 - 2009
Master of Architecture / Master of Landscape Architecture double degree - The University of Adelaide
2004 - 2008
Study within Associate Degree in Visual Art course, Adelaide Central School of Art (evening drawing classes towards Bachelor)
Bachelor of Design Studies - The University of Adelaide
2015