From 3 July, a major new body of work by Gadigal/Sydney-based artist Gerwyn Davies will be exhibited at the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre.
Sunburn: Gerwyn Davies brings together vibrant textile pieces and large-scale photographic works celebrating the ephemera, icons and visual culture of the area affectionately known as the nation’s glittering “Sunrise Strip.”
Gallery Director Ingrid Hedgcock said that she is thrilled the Gallery is presenting a body of work that is both geographically relevant and nationally important.
“This is a significant opportunity for the Gallery to present new work by contemporary artist Gerwyn Davies, particularly a powerful suite of works that responds not only to celebrated icons from the region, but also to elements intrinsically connected to our local history,” she said.
Davies developed much of the work during a 2025 residency at the Nancy Fairfax Artist in Residence Studio at the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre. Across the three-week residency, the artist tested ideas and experimented with new processes, resulting in works now shown publicly for the first time in Sunburn.
Davies transforms everyday items like postcards, souvenirs and signage into theatrical forms of sequins, spandex and sculptural costume. These elements appear in staged photographic scenes populated by a costumed figure who simultaneously emerges and dissolves within layered, immersive environments. Together, these works evoke the distinctive visual landscape of coastal Australiana.
“Davies’s interweaving of photography and textile practices results in wonderfully lavish mise-en-scènes. With Davies as protagonist, the artist ingeniously creates fantastical settings that blur boundaries between the real and the fabricated,” Ms Hedgcock said.
“Davies performs each role within the work, wearing every costume. Through sculptural garments constructed from everyday materials, his body becomes a site for transformation — hosting a cast of characters shaped by personal connection, historical reference and playful reinvention”.
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