By Shelley McKenzie
Shelley McKenzie studied Art and Art Therapy. Her practice is underpinned by the therapeutic benefits of making art and its ability to mobilise aspects of being. The immersive experience of living in the bush is reflected in the themes and motifs of her work. Recurrent presences are the natural environment, domestic spaces and objects as holding places of memory and energy. These presences are organised in the space of the canvas and mark the physical and emotional geography of the artist. Colour is used in a celebratory way as McKenzie continues to explore her inner and outer world through spontaneous mark making, the push and pull of ink, marker pens, oil sticks and acrylic.