Caroline Rothwell in ‘Ross & Rothwell: in the same boat’, Ngununggula’s annual ‘Paired Artists’ exhibition

17 Feb 2024

Now on view at Ngununggula is a duo exhibition with Ames Yavuz artist Caroline Rothwell with Joan Ross titled Ross & Rothwell: In The Same Boat, spotlighting the artistic practices of these two formidable women artists from Australia.

Both artists navigate the disjunction between colonisation and nature, highlighting the fraught legacy that we’re left with. Referencing colonial artists and botanists, Ross and Rothwell offer humorous yet intelligent critiques of history’s urgency. While their works contemporise history, they also reveal the impacts and consequences of our existence, encouraging us to consider the legacy we’re destined to leave if left without action.

Ngununggula, with its majestic estates and picturesque European-style gardens nestled in the Southern Highlands, serves as an evocative setting for exploring these profound themes. Within these curated landscapes, social and aesthetic values intertwine, inviting observers to contemplate their intricate relationship with the natural world. From the tending of gardens to the management of livestock, every act of manipulation of the environment by colonisers echoed assertions of settlement and ownership, often entwined with nostalgic and idealised visions of ‘home’.

Ross & Rothwell: In The Same Boat is ongoing until 5 May 2024.