This November Northern Rivers Community Gallery (NRCG) presents four exhibitions from local and interstate artists that explore our urban and natural environments alongside the human and environmental forces that shape and affect them.
NRCG is the flagship arts and cultural facility of Ballina Shire Council, that fosters the presentation of a diverse range of contemporary art from across the Northern Rivers and beyond. This group of exhibitions showcases the high calibre of artists making work in the local region, and NRCG is proud to work with and support regional artists.
Fragile Mappings | Rachel Dun
Reflecting her deep connection to the natural environment, Rachel Dun's work is shaped by quiet moments of observation and solace found while walking through forests, coastal landscapes, and bushland. Fragile Mappings brings together prints and artist books which capture both the physical and emotional experience of being present within the landscape and seeks to evoke a sense of stillness, contemplation, and belonging.
Image: Rachel Dun, Border Ranges, 2026
Emblems of Memory | Kirsty Marshall
Personal histories and the nature of reflection significantly inform Marshall's work. Through walking, photography, and experiences of place, she observes the natural and built environment around her. In these moments, her attention shifts into a contemplative state of noticing relationships between colour, form, and material, whether in contrast or unexpected harmony. Marshall's paintings offer glimpses into the quiet rhythms of everyday life, preserving these observations through both figurative and abstract lenses.
Image: Kirsty Marshall, In Passing, 2026
It Becomes Light | Antoinette O'Brien
It Becomes Light brings together a series of ephemeral and material works that explore memory, transformation, and the traces left by human and environmental disruption. Rooted in lived experience of the Northern Rivers, the works investigate how spaces, objects, and materials carry stories of displacement, continuity, and care. The exhibition incorporates ceramics and photography alongside found and salvaged elements from demolition-sites, including pre-colonial wood, creating a dialogue between fragility and structural force and sits alongside The World Came Flooding In in which Antoinette is a subject.
Image: Antoinette O'Brien, Marlene, 2026
The World Came Flooding In | Isobel Knowles & Van Sowerwine
The World Came FloodingIn is an immersive installation and creative VR documentary centred on the intimate stories of life during a natural disaster. Following a series of encounters with floods in 2022, artists Isobel and Van began questioning, what happens to someone's sense of home when their belongings are all washed away? Using a trauma-informed approach, the artists worked closely with three flood-affected residents from Brisbane, Lismore and Maribyrnong to recreate virtual rooms in miniature from each of their homes. These recreations, enriched by audio memories, create an intimate portrait of life during a disaster through virtual and augmented reality. This exhibition will feature a free immersive VR experience recommended for 15 years and above and will require parental guidance and advance bookings via the gallery website.
Image: Isobel Knowles & Van Sowerwine, The World Came Flooding In, 2025
All exhibitions open Thursday 15 October and continue until Thursday 17 December. The official exhibition launch will be held 5.30 – 7.30pm, Thursday 15 October.
The Northern Rivers Community Gallery is located at 44 Cherry Street Ballina and is open Wednesday to Friday from 9am until 3pm and weekends from 9.30am until 1pm.
For further information contact the Gallery on 02 6681 0530 or visit the website www.nrcgballina.com.au
