ART COLLECTION
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Throughout The Doncaster, 27 carefully curated artworks bring together works by some of Australia’s most compelling contemporary artists. Bold abstraction, expressive painting, sculpture and works on paper are woven throughout the building, creating moments of discovery at every turn.
gemma smith
Taking centre stage in the Chapel, built by nuns in 1908, Gemma Smith’s ‘Days’ explores a playful, non-figurative approach to colour, geometry and mark-making. Vibrant planes, meandering lines and expressive gestures shift across the canvas, creating a sense of movement and energy.
Together, these elements form a distinctive visual language, exploring colour’s ability to create movement, depth and space. Set against the historic Chapel, ‘Days’ creates a striking dialogue between contemporary abstraction and the building’s rich history.
dale frank
Dale Frank’s ‘Past 4am lurching out over the 19th floor hotel balcony he let the drink in his hand drop’ is a bold exploration of colour, surface and material. Created using transparent dye, powder pigments and epoxyglass on Perspex, the work is as much about sensation as it is image.
Layered pigments and translucent surfaces create an atmospheric, almost psychological space that shifts with light and perspective. The result is a work that continually changes with its surroundings, inviting guests to experience it differently each time they encounter it.
tom polo
Tom Polo’s ‘I’ll wait for you whilst you walk through water’ explores conversation, gesture and the complex dynamics of human relationships. Moving between painting, portraiture and theatrical environments, the work is expressive, playful and deeply human.
Drawing on absurdist encounters, personal histories and imagined personas, Polo’s practice explores the emotional and performative nature of human connection. His work invites viewers into spaces that feel intimate, theatrical and open to interpretation.
gregory hodge
Gregory Hodge’s ‘Figure 1’ and ‘Figure 2’ bring a striking contemporary presence to The Doncaster collection. Created using aluminium composite panel and canvas, the works explore form and composition through a bold, graphic visual language.
Presented together, the two works create a strong sense of dialogue and connection. Their scale and materiality provide a contemporary counterpoint to the building’s historic character, inviting guests to consider the relationship between the works and the spaces they live in.
jane du rand
Jane du Rand’s ‘Red’ is an artistic response to time spent hiking through the Northern Territory, immersed in the vast red desert landscapes surrounding Alice Springs and Uluru. Drawing on the colours, plant life, geological formations and wildlife encountered along the way, the work gives visual prominence to the rich red earth.
The Doncaster features 400 ceramic tiles from the original 2,000-tile installation, translating du Rand’s experiences into impressions of textures, patterns and forms found throughout the landscape. From the bark of trees and shapes of leaves to detailed studies of birds and other creatures, the work reflects the artist’s personal connection to the Australian landscape and her search for a sense of home and belonging.
Zhuang Hong Yi
Zhuang Hong Yi’s ‘Flowerburst Colourchange’ brings a vibrant, tactile presence to The Doncaster collection. The Netherlands-based Chinese artist is internationally acclaimed for his Flowerbed paintings, created through the precise formation of hundreds of hand-folded rice-paper ‘flowers’, mounted onto canvas and layered with high-key acrylic colour. The resulting works form richly textured, three-dimensional landscapes that explore colour, nature and beauty.
Presented as five works, the series showcases Zhuang’s distinctive technique on an intimate scale. As the viewer moves, the colours shift and change, revealing new tones and perspectives.
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