Janet Laurence : Once Were Forests

CASSANDRA BIRD PARIS, supported by ZIMMERMANN, is pleased to present Once Were Forests , an immersive solo exhibition by internationally renowned Australian artist Janet Laurence. Featuring a major installation alongside a new body of artworks, the exhibition brings together sculpture, painting, and photography in a sensory environment shaped by transparency and reflection. Laurence’s artwork engages with ice, forest, and water as carriers of time, memory, and life, tracing threads between ancient ecologies, the present state of nature, and possible future ecologies. Within the exhibition, forest and ice are inseparable: one preserves, the other transforms; one remembers, the other lives. Together, they form a network of relationships, a living archive of entangled life systems spanning leaves, insects, branches, animals, pollen, people, seeds, soils, and fungi, each a record within a larger cosmos, held in the past and rediscovered in the present. At its core, a large-scale installation anchors the exhibition, surrounded by works that unfold as a constellation of fragile, interrelated moments. Soundscapes drawn from Australian forests and birdsong deepen a sense of stillness, inviting visitors into a space where time appears suspended. Through the interplay of organic and ephemeral materials, Laurence reflects on cycles of transformation and care. Ice preserves traces of forest memory, while water reshapes and renews them, suggesting an unwritten history of what has been, what remains, and what may yet unfold. Once Were Forests draws on Antarctica’s deep past as part of Gondwana, when the continent sustained lush forest ecosystems. Today’s icy landscape stands as a powerful marker of change. Bridging past and present, the exhibition invites reflection on what has been lost, what endures, and what futures are still possible. Janet Laurence is an internationally acclaimed Australian artist whose work explores the intersections of art and ecology. She has presented major solo exhibitions and international presentations, including Tears of Dust at the Museum of Australian Photography (2024); Entangled Garden for Plant Memory at the Yu-hsui Museum, Taiwan (2020); and After Nature at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (2019). Her work has also featured in landmark institutional exhibitions such as Matter of the Masters at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, as well as international exhibitions across Europe and Asia. Laurence has participated in key global events including the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2023); the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (2022); and the Biennale of Sydney (2010). Across these contexts, her practice consistently engages with the Anthropocene, climate, and the interdependence of natural systems. Laurence’s work extends into major public commissions and site-specific projects that have shaped her international reputation. She has created immersive environments integrating art, architecture, and ecology in locations including Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, London, Singapore, Germany, and Japan. Notable commissions include Spells for Weather at Bundanon Art Gallery (2023); Cliff at Curtin University (2022); and The Breath in Glass in Sydney, alongside earlier landmark works such as Waterveil for Melbourne City Council; Elixir for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale; and Edge of the Trees at the Museum of Sydney (with Fiona Foley). Often developed in collaboration with architects and designers, these projects explore the poetics of place through living systems—water, air, plant life, and light—transforming public spaces into contemplative sites that foreground environmental awareness, memory, and the interconnection of human and natural worlds. Janet Laurence’s achievements have been recognised through numerous national and international awards, fellowships, and residencies. Highlights include the 2023 Art and Science Finalist at Falling Walls, Germany; the 2022 Bowness Prize Finalist in Melbourne; and the 2020 Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship. She has received multiple New Work Grants from the Australia Council for the Arts (2019, 2009, 2003); the John Glover Art Prize in 2013; and the Alumni Award for the Arts from the University of New South Wales (2010). Other honours include the Churchill Fellowship (2006); the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Residency (1997); the Alice Prize (1996); and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Lloyd Rees Award for Urban Design (1995, for First Government House Place in collaboration with Fiona Foley and Denton Corker Marshall Architects). Earlier recognitions include the Kedumba Drawing Award, the Lake Macquarie Art Prize, the Pring Prize, the Woollahra–Waverley Art Prize, and the Gold Coast City Art Purchase Award, reflecting a long-standing career of artistic excellence and engagement with site, ecology, and urban environments. Her work is held in major public, corporate, and private collections worldwide, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Queensland Art Gallery, and the Tarrawarra Museum of Art. Internationally, her work is held by the World Bank Collection, the Seibu Collection in Tokyo, Soho House in the UK and Amsterdam, as well as corporate collections such as Macquarie Bank, the Australian War Memorial, and numerous private and regional collections.