“A collection of paintings born from a desire to return to stillness, to presence, and to the quiet restoration found in nature.”
Before you begin, press play.
Brett Anthony Shaw composed a twenty-minute score for Natura. It played through the room while the audience moved between the paintings.
“I wanted the music to feel like an invisible thread between the viewer and the work, something that could hold them in the narrative of the collection.
I built the compositions using natural field recordings and organic textures such as wind, and the humming of bees, blending them with gentle instrumentation.”
The exhibition was made to be taken slowly. The music will keep playing as you read.
What Natura was
Over two days in September 2025, thirty-two paintings were shown together for the first time at the Queensland Multicultural Centre in Brisbane.
“For this show, Jessica collaborated with poet Anna McGahan and composer Brett Anthony Shaw. Each has created original work in direct response to the paintings. As you move through the space, you’ll be guided by story and sound, with every piece written and composed to draw you deeper into the work, one moment at a time.”
Anna wrote a poem for every painting. Audiences carried them through the room, reading each one in front of the work it was written for.
“At its heart, Natura is a reminder that we all belong to something older, deeper, and infinitely bigger than ourselves. Wherever we are in the world, we wake to a sunrise and fall asleep under the same sky.”
Where it came from
“This body of work is my way of telling the story of that shared belonging. The sky is the one place that connects us all, something bigger than our own small stories, reminding us that we belong to it and to one another.
This work was born at a time when I found myself standing on the edge of eternity.
Four years ago I entered a liminal space. For a while I was not alive and not yet dead. It was then I realised how little I truly knew. Eternity was right there, and I had no idea what was next. But what I did know was this: we will all one day stand there together.
After the shock of realising that could have been the end, and that I had more life to live, a new longing grew in me. I wanted to feel the 4pm light of day, to stand beneath the endless sky, to bend low over a flower and marvel at its intricacies. Both pulled me out of myself and into what my recovering body and mind most needed — WONDER.”
Why outside
“I have always loved being outside. Growing up on a dairy farm with five kids in a one-bedroom house, spending most of our time outside was unavoidable. Later, I found that, though it started as a necessity, being outdoors became the very thing I needed most. Now it has become my balm — my poetry, my music, and one of my greatest sources of inspiration.
Natura is my way of offering that balm to you: an invitation into presence, into the complexity of being alive.”
The paintings
“I paint because it is what I have to offer and how I share what I have found. I let these sacred feelings fall into pigment and earth and I lay them before you.
If you look closely you’ll see the energetic marks that run through every canvas. They remind me that nothing is still — that we are, as is everything, always becoming. Nature teaches me this again and again: I am not more, I am not less, I am part.”
Words and music
“To Anna, whose poetry gave voice to the work, and to Brett, whose music gave it breath — Natura is more because of your work. You carried Natura further than I could have on my own. I am deeply grateful.”
The Natura book
“This book holds the record of that vision. It is a companion to the art but also a work of its own. May it invite you, wherever you are, into the same stillness and wonder that shaped its making.”
What remains
“In this shrinking world, I fear we are losing our capacity to play, to laugh, to be slow, and to remain open. Yet I believe the wide sky is a key — one that unlocks in us the ability to stay awake, light, and alive when we revel in the beauty of standing under it and looking up.
Natura is a love letter to life.”
Credits
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Artist | Jessica Le Clerc |
| Poetry | Anna McGahan |
| Original score | Brett Anthony Shaw |
| Creative Director | Bethany McKay |
| Event photography and film | Nick Hargans |
| Photography of artwork | Christine Hall and Jon Lincoln |
| Reference photography | Amy Hemmings, Lumea Photo |
| Venue | Queensland Multicultural Centre, Brisbane |
For curatorial, exhibition and creative collaboration enquiries, please get in touch.