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Join us for a convivial conversation around Helen S. Tiernan’s stunning exhibition ‘Timelines’. Hear from the artist, curator Rosemary Forde, and scientist Colin McHenry, as they discuss Tiernan’s exhibition from different perspectives – including the artist’s process, her place in art history, and the evolutionary science and stories informing her work.  

Berninneit Art Gallery is proud to launch a new exhibition catalogue to celebrate ‘Timelines’, featuring documentation of Tiernan’s work, and essays by Rosemary Forde and Colin McHenry.  

The School of Fish is an informal group that meets monthly at Helen Tiernan’s studio in Fish Creek. Beginning from a conversation about whales between Helen and friends Colin McHenry and Peter Sleeman, the group evolved into the School of Fish. Now, participants take turns presenting on far ranging topics including art, science, technology and history. The group places an emphasis on teaching and learning through conversation, sharing knowledge in all forms and democratising learning.  

Speakers:  
Helen S. Tiernan is an artist of Irish and Aboriginal heritage who lives and works in Fish Creek, Gippsland. Her exhibition ‘Timelines’ at Berninneit Art Gallery presents new paintings of whales and sea Country, and chronicles of exploration and evolutionary deep time. Alongside this the exhibition features some of Tiernan’s breakthrough ‘Songlines’ paintings from 2004, which depict her research into life for Aboriginal women and families in and around the former Lake Tyers Mission.   

Dr Colin McHenry is an ecologist and palaeontologist who studies the reptiles and mammals that have returned to living in the sea, and their relationships with land and ocean. He has worked on fossils from Northern Queensland, reptiles in the Kimberley and Pilbara, and the wetland systems of south-eastern Australia. He lives in South Gippsland and spends as much time as possible in the waters of the Bass Strait.  

Dr Rosemary Forde is a curator and art historian and currently works at Bass Coast Shire Council as the Visual Art & Cultural Development Officer. She is author and editor of the book Art holds a high place in my life: DAMP monograph 1995- (Melbourne: 3-ply, 2024). Rosemary has taught art history, theory, and curatorial practice disciplines at universities, and worked in cultural roles in local government, contemporary art galleries, and community museums. 

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Helen S. Tiernan

'Timelines'

Berninneit Art Gallery
23 May - 12 July 2026

View Full Exhibition Details Here