Essence + Form

From the Artist

Essence + Form
Amanda Ketterer

This collection came together slowly over different seasons of the year. Some pieces were painted in moments of stillness, others in bursts of energy. Each carrying its own rhythm and emotion. Though they weren’t all created with one clear theme in mind, they naturally belong together through the same thread of colour, balance and quiet strength that runs through everything I make.

Each painting begins as a search for balance between light and dark, order and chaos, control and surrender. I work intuitively, following colour and form where they lead, letting the surface build its own rhythm. Within this process, moments of imperfection become the most honest parts of the piece. A stray brush mark, an unplanned texture, a colour shift. They remind me that beauty is rarely found in precision but in the human touch that reveals itself through time and process.

If you’d read one of my artist statements from years ago, you’d already have seen how deeply my work relates to the beauty of imperfection. Perfection is unattainable, so why spend our lives reaching for something that can never be real? Some may see that as compromise, but for me it’s a conscious choice. A way of living, surrendering and creating that feels both liberating and peaceful. Truer to who I am.

I’m drawn to the naïve charm of childlike drawings, the quirky pottery created with love that will never be replicated, and the friends who don’t tidy before I visit. A “perfect” house never made anyone feel at home. Nature reminds us of this too in its wildflowers, uneven edges and the quiet unapologetic disorder that makes everything feel alive. It’s that unpredictability, that raw authenticity, that continually inspires my work.

Each painting is a conversation between structure and freedom, reflecting the tension we all feel in our lives between order and chaos, expectation and reality. My brushstrokes are rarely perfect, nor are they meant to be. Layers evolve organically, often surprising me along the way. I let each piece unfold in its own time without forcing control or chasing flawlessness.

For me, imperfection isn’t something to fix. It’s something to celebrate. It’s where true beauty lives. Where we find freedom, depth, character and connection. Through my work I hope to remind others and myself that our cracks, layers and uneven edges are what make us beautifully human. Unique, whole and worthy, just as we are.

Essence + Form is a continuation of that belief. In this series, the botanically inspired shapes serve as a language for exploring composition, colour and atmosphere. The unseen conversations between what we feel and what we show. Each painting captures a fleeting sense of presence, balancing precision with spontaneity, control with surrender. Together they celebrate the imperfect harmony that exists when essence finds its form.

Artist Resume Amanda Ketterer

Education

University of the Creative Arts, UK – Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art, 2007
University of the Creative Arts, UK – Diploma Art & Design, 2004

Awards

2016 Best in Show – Best Painting in Show – Derinya Art Show
2016 Highly Commended – Best Contemporary Painting – St Kevin’s College Art Show
2015 Highly Commended – Best Figurative Painting – St Kevin’s College Art Show
2011 Finalist Position – Box Hill Community Arts Centre Biennial Art Competition

Exhibitions & Art Shows

2025    Amanda Ketterer Solo  – SOHO Galleries Woollahra
2025     Group Show, Spring Fever – Manyung Galleries, September
2025     Affordable Art Fair Melbourne – Manyung Galleries, August
2025     Affordable Art Fair London Hampstead – Lucinda Dalton Gallery, May
2025     Affordable Art Fair London Battersea – Lucinda Dalton Gallery, London
2025     Group Show, Summer Lovin’ Show – Art Images Gallery Adelaide, January
2025     Group Show, Summer Art Soiree – Manyung Gallery Sorrento, January
2024     Group Show, Winter Exhibition – Lucinda Dalton Gallery, London
2024     Group Show, Christmas Exhibition – Art Images Gallery Adelaide
2024     Affordable Art Fair Melbourne, August 2024 – SOHO Galleries
2024     Affordable Art Fair London Hampstead, May 2024 – Lucinda Dalton Gallery
2024     Affordable Art Fair London Battersea, March 2024 – Lucinda Dalton Gallery
2023     Group Show, Winter Exhibition – Lucinda Dalton Gallery, Chelsea, Londo
2023     Group Show, Christmas Exhibition – Art Images Gallery, Adelaide
2024    The Affordable Art Fair – SOHO Galleries Sydney
2022    The Affordable Art Fair – SOHO Galleries Sydney
2021    SOHO Galleries Sydney, Mosman Expose’
2020    SOHO Galleries Sydney, Woollahra Expose’
2020   Joint Show – Peisley Street Gallery, Orange
2019   The Affordable Art Fair, Melbourne
2019   The Other Art Fair, Melbourne
2019   The Other Art Fair, Sydney
2018   The Other Art Fair, Melbourne
2018   Albert Park College Art Show
2018   Mount Eliza Art & Design Show
2018   Derinya Art Show, Frankston South, Victoria
2018   Southern Buoy Studios Artist Show, Mornington
2018   St Kevins Art Show, Toorak, Victoria
2018   Beneath the Layers Show, Space 2B, Balaclava, Melbourne
2018   Canterbury Art Exhibition, Canterbury, Melbourne
2017   Whitehorse Art Show, Box Hill, Victoria
2017   Albert Park College Art Show, South Melbourne, Victoria
2017   St Kevins Art Show, Toorak, Victoria