Cheryl Rose

Image: An overhead view of artist Cheryl Rose as she works on a new piece. Photo: QVMAG.

Based in the north west of Lutruwita, in Pataway, artist Cheryl Rose has built a practice deeply rooted in her surroundings. “I feel as I’ve gotten older, I cannot move away from this area, from the coastline which deeply influences my art practice,” she explains. Her work is a reflection of environment, heritage, community, and culture – elements that govern and guide her response at any given moment.

Cheryl’s practice blends delicacy with scale. Using Japanese Kozo paper as a base, she layers prints, drawings, and inkworks, occasionally incorporating projections to create dynamic overlays. While some pieces are bold and large - one stretching up to five metres - the work remains intimate, “never telling or revealing the whole story.”

Image: A close-up of Cheryl Rose's newest artwork. Photo: QVMAG.

Her path to art was neither straightforward nor linear. “I’ve stopped and started over my lifetime too many times really… but it was something I felt was the only thing I was okay at back in school days,” Cheryl recalls. Today, art remains her outlet – “a way of communicating without having to talk too much… hint hint.”

With her work in RISE, Cheryl hopes to invite viewers into her perspective. “Be inspired to look and seek further, see what I see and feel. Be intrigued and become allies of our beautiful environment,” she says.

The exhibition also offers a moment of reflection for the artist herself. “I always get surprised that people want to see or use my work. The piece I’m using I have not seen for a few months… I was seeing it with fresh eyes, and I was surprised. I thought, it’s actually not too bad. I'm happy to reveal it to a wider audience.”

Image: Cheryl Rose at work in her Burnie studio. Photo: QVMAG.

Her advice to emerging artists is rooted in patience and presence: “Don’t get too caught up in the end result… listen to your body and mind in how they are responding to the work, step away if need be and then come back. Build a relationship with the work.”

Through Cheryl Rose’s practice, art becomes a dialogue between place, culture, and the viewer - a gentle but powerful invitation to look again and look deeper.

 

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