JUDITH VAN HEEREN FEATURED IN ART GUIDE AUSTRALIA
Although she emigrated from the Netherlands to Australia as a young child, Judith Van Heeren appears to have inherited a cultural affinity for the dark, moody still lifes of the Dutch Masters, an art historical legacy she has long admired. Borrowing from this visual language, her paintings elevate Australian flora, imbuing them with the gravitas, beauty and mystery more commonly associated with European flowers in 17th-century still life painting.
With a practice spanning more than three decades, Van Heeren is presenting her first solo exhibition with Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Melbourne. Known for her small oil paintings that reward slow and attentive looking, her works feel quietly defiant in an image-saturated era increasingly dominated by empty Al-generated imagery. This new series unfolds gradually, defined by an exquisite, almost otherworldly light, and marks the first time the artist has realised a long held desire to introduce the moon into her compositions.
Growing up in the outer suburbs of Perth, Van Heeren spent time walking with her father, also a painter. “We would see banksias, xanthorrhoea, native grasses, orchids and kangaroo paws growing just outside – across the road. That was my wonderland,” she recalls.
Today, Van Heeren paints from a vast collection of dried specimens in her studio, preferring them once their life has drained away. “I love the colours and the way they curl,” she says. “For me, the banksia pods that have opened after fire, hold the promise of a life cycle-layered, strange and utterly compelling.
Rich with art historical references – from sfumato’s hazy atmospherics to a subtle slippage between realism and surrealism – Van Heeren’s paintings sit comfortably within contemporary practice. Both meticulous and experimental, they feel at once scientific and alchemical. While they may gesture towards ecological precarity, the works remain grounded in aesthetics rather than politics, resisting fixed meanings and inviting sustained contemplation.
Rhianna Melhem from Art Guide Australia March/April 2026