Katanning art exhibition opens a window of opportunity for amateur Great Southern artists

A display of the finest artwork from the Great Southern is on show at Katanning Art Gallery. The Opening of Windows exhibition was unveiled late last month to a packed gallery as a demonstration of 10 Katanning artists’ interpretations of the keyword “windows”. A variation of visual media such as photographs, wooden sculptures, and canvas paintings each express a different place, story and aspect of culture associated with windows. Karryn Thompson unveiled her first exhibited work, titled COVID Stay at Home, which showed a dark cottage with bars across the windows to represent the effects lockdown orders had on people’s perceptions of the outside world. Her painting is one of 20 pieces on display at the gallery, which is open free to the public until May 22. Katanning Gallery co-ordinator James Wood said keyword exhibitions were nerve-racking to organise as you never knew what type of art the community would create. He said it was important for the gallery to continue to provide a platform for displays from the Katanning community. “We don’t have professional artists in Katanning but we have a great deal of enthusiastic amateurs who have taken the word windows and ran with it,” he said. “I always put them (local artists) in the front of the line. “This is a community gallery,” he said. “It’s your gallery, and we are showing work by your community, so come and have a look.”