Veronica Cay

Veronica Cay
the pretence of wallflowers
Grainger Gallery 14th July 2022

We observed these strange rituals, briefly, but the music was too enticing – so we danced;
the restless anticpation, fear and uncertainty gratefully released.

Collaging, reworking, erasing, abrasing, layering lifedrawings and paintings together is an active manifestation of me trying to make sense of illusory moments in time pivoting with societal expectations of what girls should and shouldn’t do - constantly butting up against structures and destructive language that damages and labels.

The large drawings in this show are the direct results of lifedrawing sessions the works have been joined and extended to reveal new conversations and compositions, demanding new responses. The continuous layering and reworking of surfaces obscures initial outcomes but provides a rich history of transition and suggestion. The resultant marks may bear no resemblance to their origins but they have been endowed with a mutable powerful presence – often far from their passive beginnings.

Memory for me is a flickering sequence of images in an unknown space where time is suspended and where my imagination is free to wander peeking into the shadows, revealing emotional states long forgotten.



Veronica Cay is an accomplished Australian contemporary figurative artist. Focusing on the practices of drawing and sculpture Veronica reflects upon what it means to be human; seeking connections, testing resilience and acknowledging frailties. With a practice that is heavily grounded in observational work and life drawing, Veronica creates characters that resist objectification and open a dialogue about the body experienced from within.

Time spent slowly observing and connecting to the human landscape in the life drawing studio is crucial to Veronica’s process. She uses experimental, lyrical and expressive mark making to look closely at the human condition, capturing a beauty that radiates from below the surface irrespective of age or gender.