Gathered celebrates more than a decade of friendship and creative exchange between Fiona O’Byrne and Lana Daubermann. Having met years ago as students at the Victorian Artists Society, the two have since returned to the same halls to teach together, all while maintaining an ongoing dialogue about the craft of painting.

While their focuses have diverged – Fiona into the intimate world of portraiture and still life, and Lana into the expansive reach of the landscape – their work continues to speak a similar language.

In this exhibition, the paintings are in conversation with one another. There is a subtle reciprocity on the canvas: a shared tonal palette here, a familiar energy in the brushwork there. Each nods to one another’s strengths, reflecting a mutual influence built over years of discussing the craft of painting and supporting each other’s creative journey.

Fiona’s work remains a meditation on domestic realism, finding poignancy in the “here and now” through commonplace objects and familiar faces. Lana’s landscapes explore colour and atmosphere, capturing the spirit of the natural world. Together, Gathered is a harmony of two distinct paths that continue to run side-by-side.