“Cole asks us to traverse into the beautiful unknown and question our notions of “otherness”

GREG LEZAIC, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

JOANNA COLE is a visual artist from Sydney, Australia. In 2020 she gained a Master of Art with excellence from the University of New South Wales, formerly COFA. Her work has received critical acclaim as a finalist of numerous art awards including the Waverley Art Prize, Wingecarribbe Art Prize, the New South Wales Parliament En Plein Air Art Prize, North Sydney Art Prize.

Joanna has participated in various artist residencies around Australia and in Spain. In 2024 she launched Papillon Artist Retreat, a cottage and studio space on the Hawkesbury River / Brisbane Waters National Park that offers a place and experience where she can work , but also support and promote creative collaborations.

In 2026 her focus on the river landscape resulted in an exhibition titled Pulse, at Grace Cossington Smith Gallery . Below are a collection of images from that showing, courtesy of Garry Trinh. The theme is expressed through the idea of the rhythms of the day, as well as the tidal, and weather shifts. Presented as a journal of eighteen days, we see a figure on the jetty shifting position over the days. We see various outlooks across the river and across the lands. Full of energetic colour and marks the aim is to have a sense of increasing familiarity with the place and also movement from moment to moment..