Michael Desmond, You are here (detail), 2025. Image courtesy of the artist.
Michael Desmond, Peta Jones,
Bryn Desmond-Jones & Ossian Desmond-Jones
Gallery 1 & Gallery 2
Friday 5 September - Sunday 28 September
Opening Thursday 4 September 2025, 6pm-8pm
Rendezvous: Notes from the Botanic Gardens is the fourth collaborative family exhibition presented at M16 Artspace by Michael Desmond, Peta Jones, Bryn Desmond-Jones and Ossian Desmond-Jones. Extending on the research undertaken for their 2023 exhibition Four views of Black Mountain, this exhibition explores the site of the Australian National Botanic Gardens as an important bridge between the city and the natural environment; a subject of increasing importance in the context of climate change.
The Botanic Gardens facilitates an appreciation for the sheer diversity of plants from across Australia as well as for local flora and fauna. Importantly, in addition to its scientific significance, it is also a site of learning, reflection and memory.
The Botanic Gardens are a meeting ground for plants and people; a place for discovery and celebration. Inspired by the botanical diversity of the Gardens, this exhibition explores the rich architecture of forms, powerful symbolism and community memories embedded in this unique locale.
Rendezvous: Notes from the Botanic Gardens channels the stunning patterns, colours and forms of the Gardens, interweaving beauty and emotion to generate an appreciation of the poetry of this unique site from four different perspectives.
About the Artists
Michael Desmond
Michael Desmond will exhibit a series of figurative paintings and drawings with an emphasis on colour. Paintings might also be combined in groups of multiple panels like screens. His subject matter draws on the flora and fauna of the Botanic Gardens, interpreted via a personal mythology.
Peta Jones
Peta Jones has worked with photography, textiles and sculpture. Her drawings are inspired by the forms found in nature and relate back to the human form. For the exhibition Rendezvous: Notes from the Botanic Gardens, she will present a series of observational drawings as well as large pastels and watercolours considering the architecture of various plants as increasingly abstract forms.
Bryn Desmond-Jones
Bryn Desmond-Jones completed a Masters degree in Electronic arts (RMIT) and works in Computer Animation and Illustration. (View online portfolio www.bryndj.com) He has previously exhibited animations, 'zines, paper cut-outs and screen prints in Sydney but will for this show exhibit a temporary wall drawing as well as a collaborative interactive installation with Ossian Desmond-Jones.
Ossian Desmond-Jones
Ossian Desmond-Jones completed a Masters degree in Advanced Computer Science at ANU in 2017. His continuing interest in Photography, particularly in Alternative processes has seen him attend several workshops held at the Gold Street Studios in Trentham working in various methods of the photographic process. For this exhibition Ossian will make photographic prints of the gardens using 19th century equipment and processes such as carbon and salt prints.