OPEN, ENCLOSE

A solo exhibition by Shayne Flesser

Opening Night Friday 30 October 2026, 5:30-9:00pm

Open Gallery Friday 31 October 2026 until Monday 30 November 2026 

Emma Street Studio, Windsor, Brisbane

Walking into Emma Street Studio for Shayle Flesser’s solo show, Open, Enclose, feels like a breath of artistic relief - especially stepping out of the Brisbane heat into a cool space smelling of fresh paint and new ideas. Featuring paintings, hand-built ceramics, and collages, the exhibition makes you wonder about the last time you pulled out some colours to create without holding back.

The big paintings are wild. They look totally carefree, like a kid going hard with a pack of crayons to get their feelings out, yet you can’t tell if each brushstroke was intentional or accidental. The dark brown paintings - the Meaning Render series - capture a powerful moment in time. They evoke a period like COVID, a time of darkness in the tunnel with no light at the end, hitting on a very specific, heavy feeling: like drinking rum alone and suddenly feeling a massive wave of sadness for no good reason. Those moody, dark expressions sit firmly inside the Meaning Render works, while the rest of the collection shifts into vivid pieces like Where I Went, Arrival, and the Memorability series, with vivid colours ranging from rich red and deep blue to pastel colours and white.

Then there’s Change Landscape, which feels different again - reminding me of the pure, carefree sensation a playful dog gets when rubbing its back joyously in the grass. While some paintings across different series share common themes, each tells a unique story and captures a distinct emotion or moment in time. The work feels grounded in the emotion present during its creation rather than an overarching narrative. It’s raw, passionate, and indulgent - worth celebrating because visual symmetry doesn't always express vulnerability in the same way. As tends to be the case when art is being viewed, and deeply personal, everyone will connect with different pieces.

Alongside the dramatic paintings taking up much of the wall space, the smaller hand-built ceramics are just as thought-provoking. While sculpture covers a broad range of three-dimensional forms, Flesser’s hand-built clay pieces are sensual works that make you want to join a class and surrender to clay making. They carry a heavy physical weight that grounds the room, giving you that sensory feeling of wiggling your toes in the sand on the beach, paired with the studio's fresh paint smell to remind you of where you actually are. Every curve and unusual shape feels like it's holding onto a thought, especially in pieces like Rolls and Folds, Soft Landing series and Inside.

The collages took me straight back to high school, sitting on the bedroom floor with a pile of scraps, trying to fit different textures together. They are pure eye candy - fun to follow the shapes and paths, leaving room to make out figures for yourself. Experimental, raw, and unpretentious, the Gathering series was a personal favourite. In a recent Ozone interview, Flesser talked about why she makes art, making the show click even more - it’s less about ticking boxes and more about making sense of the world. Open, Enclose is messy, beautiful, and well worth a look.

Ozone Interview: https://4zzz.org.au/program/ozone/2026-10-09%2000:00:00 

Words and Imagery: Joanna Letic