Former Max Galleria owner, local artist Maxine Stibbe will open an anticipated exhibition with works from her private collection at Bendigo Bank Cooroy from Thursday 10 August until Friday 15 September.
Maxine joined the Australian art scene in the late 1980’s in Brisbane, made the Sunshine Coast/Kabi Kabi Country her home in 1992, and her passion for art in all forms has led her on a journey spanning the globe ever since.
“I’m humbled that Bendigo has asked me to exhibit my work. I used to show at Westpac many moons ago at Airlie Beach and I think it brightened people’s day when they went to do their banking,” she said.
Maxine is a visual artist, facilitator, Community Youth Arts Development Officer, event organiser, gallery manager, curator, radio announcer and an actress/model.
She recently managed and curated Max Galleria in Tewantin and showed over 150 artists in two years, promoting the diverse talent of the Sunshine Coast and South East Queensland.
In her upcoming exhibition, she will be donating 10 per cent of all works sold to CWA Tewantin/Noosa for their work with housing for vulnerable women.
“All women should have shelter and a safe place to sleep at night,” she said. “Together we strengthen communities.”
Maxine will have some incredible works on show, including two large oil paintings, The Deep and The Shallow, which she created while living on Mandalay Bay, managing a gallery on Hamilton Island/ Birra Gubbi Country.
The only other exhibition these have shown in was her Solo Show at Fox Galleries, Brisbane, and opened by Queensland Arts Minister Hon. Matt Foley, and have been in her private collection since.
In an interview, Maxine mentioned she “doesn’t mind if people touch her artworks, as long as your hands are clean and gentle, because sculptures and painting with thick mediums feel amazing”.
This led to the Brisbane CWA calling her art dealer, and asking if some blind members could visit to touch the artworks.
A small busload of CWA members and blind partners arrived and took great delight in feeling the marble sculptures and paintings.
“I felt pretty amazed to be truthful. I could just imagine people touching everything and feeling joy from the art,” she said.
“It’s a healing thing creating art for a lot of people. I become very focused and time can fold.”
Maxine will also be showing a Sunshine Coast Sandstone Sculpture, a reclining abstract figure, in a beautiful small white grain, reminiscent of English Sculptor, Henry Moore.
She says it is the maquette/miniature for the large-scale sculpture she’d like to be commissioned for, a private garden or a public artwork, where children may play with it.
At the bank you’ll be able to see a stunning life size torso sculpture Mosaic Figure made of Marble from Turkey.
Maxine also works in Aerosol, doing murals for local businesses such as The Ginger Factory, and privately, and she will be exhibiting a Triptych/3 piece of mixed media paintings about the Sunshine Coast exquisite flora and environment.
It is called Rainbow Country – Wallum Fields.
“This work embodies two of the most beautiful parts of the Sunshine Coast’s environment, the Wallum Fields and the Glasshouse Mountains,” she said.
“Last summer it rained nearly three months straight and finally the rainbows came out blazing in their exquisite beauty.
“Using aerosol acrylic and pen, I used the techniques, stencilling and hand embellishing detailing, using found and recycled objects.
“Utilising repetition, the viewer is reminded of the complexities and self and one’s connection to the natural, and how mediation and chaos patterns, semiotics and symbolism, can create introspective responses to our environs.”
Another stand out piece is her ‘Noosa and Environs’ painting of Laguna Bay to North Shore.
“I have a deep love of nature, and the Sunshine Coast is one of my favourite places in the entire world, and I hope this painting portrays this,” she said.
Maxine’s exhibition at Cooroy Bendigo Bank opens Thursday 10 August – Friday 15 September with all works available for purchase.
Commissions, workshops, murals, and creative industries welcomed. Artist for hire.
For more information visit facebook.com.au/maxinestibbe or call 0414725424.
