Riverina artist Sarah McEwan to open first show at Murray Art Museum Albury

Unrequited Love (The Great Magpiesis) will be Riverina artist Sarah McEwan's first show at Murray Art Museum Albury when it opens on Friday, May 26.

It developed out of COVID lockdown experiences when everyone had to adapt in ways never considered before.

"I guess I had a momentary kind of pause with my practice, my career and it just made me think 'oh, so if my art practice and the arts sector was a person, what would my relationship be like to them?" she said.

"It has such an intense spectrum of emotions and so how do I distil this into one single idea?"

Influenced by ancient Greek words such as mania, agape and poiesis, McEwan came up with Magpiesis "because it's combining the obsession and the devotion that you need to have to make work and the spiritual side of that as well, and then also the bringing of something new into existence".

"I guess I just wanted to explore that in a way where I'm kind of personifying my practice, to just be funny and draw a humorous attention to the realities of what it means to be an artist," she said.

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Bold hues are a feature of the acrylic and oil artworks.

"The colours are really bright and really loud, normally I would have a much more subdued palette, so I'm really enjoying thinking about colour and thinking about how you create that energy with colour," McEwan said.

McEwan is the creative producer of The Cad Factory, a creative charity that grew out of the "underground warehouse scene" in Sydney from the early 2000s.

An artist-led organisation, The Cad Factory over the years has worked with more than 700 artists reaching an audience of about 150,000 people.

"We really advocate for regional practice being seen as vital, relevant and innovative," McEwan said.

A collaborative theme is also evident in Creative Cuddle, a guided sharing session scheduled ahead of the official opening of Unrequited Love (The Great Magpiesis).

McEwan encouraged other artists to come along to this participatory event.

"That's really around building communities and that solidarity that you feel," she said.

Unrequited Love (The Great Magpiesis) can be seen at MAMA from May 26 to July 9.

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