Nganawi Ruwi by Amanda Westley | Sculpture by Donna Gordge

4 September – 4 October 2026

Art Images Gallery is pleased to present Nganawi Ruwi (My Country), a new exhibition by Ngarrindjeri artist Amanda Westley, shown alongside a featured collection of sculptural woven works by Donna Gordge.

Presented together in our second gallery space, the two displays explore ideas of place, memory and connection through distinctly different practices. Westley’s vibrant paintings draw deeply from Ngarrindjeri Country and the landscape of the South Australian coast, while Gordge transforms textile processes and unexpected materials into expressive sculptural forms.

Amanda Westley: Nganawi Ruwi (My Country)

Amanda Westley is a Ngarrindjeri artist born in Victor Harbor, South Australia. Raised between farm life and the ocean, her connection to land, water and family has remained central to both her identity and her artistic practice.

Her latest exhibition, Nganawi Ruwi (My Country), reflects this deep and enduring relationship with Country.

Working in contemporary Aboriginal dot painting, Westley draws upon the vivid colours of her Ngarrindjeri Country, translating the rhythms and character of the south coast into intricate fields of colour and pattern.

The ocean, shoreline and surrounding rural landscape are recurring influences throughout her work. Rather than viewing Country simply as a physical place, Westley’s paintings express it as something living – connected to family, culture, memory and belonging.

Across Nganawi Ruwi, these connections are explored through a vibrant new body of paintings that celebrates both the strength of Country and Westley’s own relationship to it.

The titles of the individual works also offer another way into the exhibition, referencing ideas of ocean, belonging, gathering and place.

Works including Yarluwar Ruwi (Ocean Country) and Alyenik Ruwi-Nyeri (Belonging to Country) continue Westley’s exploration of the landscapes and stories that have shaped her life, while pieces such as Ku (Shell/Pippi) draw attention to details of the coastline and their cultural significance.

Through colour, pattern and repetition, Nganawi Ruwi is both a personal reflection and a celebration of an ongoing connection to Ngarrindjeri Country.

Donna Gordge: Sculptural Woven Works

Alongside Amanda Westley’s exhibition is a striking collection of sculptural works by Donna Gordge.

With a background in textiles, Gordge takes traditional textile techniques beyond their expected forms. Rather than working solely with fabric and fibre, she increasingly incorporates non-traditional materials to create sculpture, installation and artist books.

Her current works combine woven pipe cleaners and ceramic elements, transforming familiar and seemingly simple materials into intricate organic forms.

Memory, place and identity sit at the heart of Gordge’s practice. Personal artefacts, animals, found objects and remembered experiences often become starting points for works that consider the ways memories change over time and how experiences continue to shape us.

There is a strong sense of storytelling within the sculptures. Titles such as Still Holding the Echo, Between Breaths, Growing in the Unspoken and What Your Fire Didn't Take suggest moments, emotions and fragments of experience without prescribing a single interpretation.

The resulting works feel simultaneously delicate and resilient. Their woven structures appear to grow, reach and shift, giving physical form to ideas that can otherwise be difficult to hold: loss, longing, memory and transformation.

Two Distinct Practices, Side by Side

While Westley and Gordge work in very different mediums, there are natural connections between the two displays.

Both artists consider the ways that place and experience shape identity. For Westley, this is expressed through a living cultural and personal connection to Ngarrindjeri Country. For Gordge, memory and lived experience become the material from which stories and sculptural forms emerge.

Colour, repetition and pattern also move across the gallery space – from the intricate dot work within Westley’s paintings to the repeated woven structures of Gordge’s sculptures.

Presented side by side, each display retains its own identity while creating an engaging dialogue between painting and sculpture.

Experience the Exhibitions Online

For those unable to visit us in person, explore the current exhibitions and available artworks online either through the virtual tour video or through the links below.

VIEW AMANDA WESTLEY ARTWORKS >>>

VIEW ARTWORKS BY DONNA GORDGE >>>

Visit Art Images Gallery

Amanda Westley – Nganawi Ruwi (My Country)
With sculpture by Donna Gordge

4 September – 4 October 2026

Art Images Gallery
32 The Parade, Norwood
Adelaide, South Australia

Visit the gallery to experience both displays in person, or explore the available works online.