Im happy to share that my solo exhibition WINDY STEREO is currently showing at Nicholas Thompson Gallery (Naarm/Melbourne)

Exhibition Dates: 20th May- 6th June 2026 Opening 4-6pm Saturday 23rd May

The titles are read as sounds perhaps by the patterning of letters, akin to the way on sheet music there is a pp. This translates to presenting a feeling or tempo in dynamics of music standing for pianissimo, an Italian term meaning very soft or very quiet. At times my notations seem to be seen as mis -spelt echoes but i want them to give a sensation to

the colour’s speed and luminosity, and the letters to be sounded out slowly like varied sounds pacing along, much like the different speeds I've applied to the painted brushmarks . fff letters stand for forte fortissimo and mean "very very loud". I'm not a musician unfortunately , but I do like listening to and observing the sounds and shapes of the world. I thought it would be a fun way to approach this little series of works, as colours can change all the time with their own dynamics and paces in painting.

Light spectrums and colourful abstractions The brush marks bring a tempo that is both in and out of focus and fast and slow in pace. Much like tuning into white noise loaded with spatial elements and reflective possibilities the paintings disperse flickering moments.

Elyss McCleary, Wwiisstteerriiaa ddrreeaamm sshheedd, Oil on linen, 138cm x 122cm, 2026. Photograph by : Tim Gresham

My solo show is currently showing from 11th -28th September at Nicholas Thompson Gallery. There are opening rinks tomorrow 4-6pm (sat 14th) all are welcome ;)

I would like to thank immensely talented friends Cerise Howard for writing the essay response and Carmine Frascarelli designing and building the steel components for the exhibition.

The compositions in The Cinematic Background unfold in a somehow familiar mind trip of spaces within spaces, reflecting arrangements of images as painted afterglows of the after image.

Layers suggesting scenes of a felt composition of forms of systems, stacking to excess, facades and fused colours ask what is cinematic to each view point. This could be how a person or a leaf see things at night, such as a shift worker from the hospital walking home by early morning, the streetlight, tree and the little fountain they seem to see each time in passing, or the sky with its sonic collaboration with the sea. These notions reel off what seem like imagined pauses of a world where I believe the big feelings are circulating and cinematic to countless environments within their own sensations.

Some of the paintings are placed on metal components, staging a location connecting shiny structures of suspended colours to imprint the afterimage of so many images formed in worlds past mine.

Here is the link for more info:

Windy Stereo at Nicholas Thompson Gallery

The Cinematic Background at Nicholas Thompson Gallery