Shirley Ploog

 

Shirley Ploog is a visual artist based in Barwon Heads, Victoria who is passionate about the environment and capturing the beauty and fragility of nature. 

Walking is a key part of Ploog's art practice enabling her to slow down, to observe and to participate in the beauty of her coastal town. Ploog's curiosity of the layered and patterned organic details of nature has been her oeuvre for many years. She continues to be captivated and curious about all those often overlooked minute entities combining to create graceful and fragile worlds. In these most challenging times there has been a changed perspective to this ritual with amplified appreciation, interaction and keener observation of nature’s minutiae. 

The artist loves both drawing and painting, always searching and developing a language which expresses her love for nature. Over the years, Ploog's use of drafting film has been her preferred substrate combining graphite, charcoal, inks and oils to create works that evoke a calm sense of quiet. 

In recent times, Ploog has continued to explore her visual language in oil paint transferring her drawing techniques to the canvas. She uses very thin layers of oil in combination with solvents to create a translucent matrix of natural elements evoking a sense of fragility and gentle delicacy. There is an energy to the work, almost a feeling of the essence of nature creating a quiet conversation. This invites the viewer to take a closer look at the delicate mark making to reveal the subtle nuances within her world. 

Click here for artwork by Shirley Ploog

Exhibitions at Tacit Art

2024 Pause & Presence

 

2023 Quiet Conversations
  

 

2017 Diaphanous
   

Exhibitions
solo

2024 Pause & Presence - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2023 Quiet Conversations - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2020 What Remains - Projectspace, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2019 What Remains - The Art Vault, Mildura
2018 Diaphanous [Redux] - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2017 Diaphanous - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2016 Nature’s Work - Junie Moons Café, Melbourne
2015 Resilience - Red Gallery, Melbourne
2014 Take A Moment - Muse Gallery, Melbourne

group

2023 SUBSTRATE 23 - Tacit Art, Melbourne
Omnia Art Prize - Melbourne
Arbor - Tacit Art, Melbourne
2022 TACIT Still Life Art Prize - Tacit Art, Melbourne
Heysen Prize for Landscape - Hahndorf, South Australia
ANL Maritime Art Prize - Melbourne
Omnia Art Prize - Melbourne
2021 TACIT Still Life Art Prize - Tacit Art, Melbourne
Lethbridge 10,000 Art Prize - Brisbane
St Kevins Art Prize - Melbourne
Wyndham Art Prize - Melbourne
2020 Wyndham Art Prize - Melbourne
2019 Visualising Mildura - The Art Vault, Mildura
Lethbridge 10,000 Art Prize - Brisbane
Canterbury Art Prize - Melbourne
St. Kevin’s Art Prize - Melbourne
Wyndham Art Prize - Melbourne
2018 Lethbridge 10,000 Art Prize - Brisbane
Stanthorpe Art Prize - Stanthorpe, Queensland
Wyndham Art Prize - Melbourne
St. Kevin’s Art Prize - Melbourne
2017 Macquarie Group Emerging Artist Art Prize - Sydney
Wyndham Art Prize - Melbourne (Notable Mention)
St. Kevin’s Art Prize - Melbourne
2016 M Collection Art Award - Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Scope Galleries Art Award - Warrnambool
Wyndham Art Prize - Melbourne
Belle Arti Art Prize - Chapman & Bailey, Melbourne
2015 Linden Postcard Show - Linden Gallery, Melbourne
2014 Belle Arti Art Prize - Chapman & Bailey, Melbourne 
Spring Exhibition - Louis Joel Gallery, Melbourne
Linden Postcard Show - Linden Gallery, Melbourne
2013 10 at Bright! - Brightspace, Melbourne