Following her residency at 24HR Art in Darwin, Kate Shaw presented Drifter at Ryan Renshaw Gallery in Brisbane, a body of work that carried the visual and conceptual imprints of her time in the Northern Territory. Immersed in the region’s unique light, colours, and sense of remoteness, Shaw absorbed the shifting tones of tropical skies, tidal flats, and monsoonal storms. These atmospheric qualities translated into paintings where poured acrylics, iridescent pigments, and resin captured the fluid transitions between land, water, and air, evoking both the physical environment and the dreamlike impressions it left behind.

The title Drifter suggested movement, impermanence, and a sense of navigating in-between spaces—whether geographic, emotional, or psychological. Shaw’s technique mirrored this drifting sensibility: paint was poured, allowed to settle, merge, and pool in unpredictable ways before being coaxed into landscapes that hovered between figuration and abstraction. In these works, there was a tension between the wildness of chance and the deliberate shaping of form, reflecting both the instability of the environment and the shifting perspectives that travel and residency experiences provoke.

Exhibited at Ryan Renshaw, Drifter offered Brisbane audiences a glimpse of Shaw’s expanded practice following her time in Darwin. The works conveyed a heightened awareness of atmospheric change, fragility, and transience, yet were grounded in a deep engagement with the Australian landscape. Layered and luminous, they invited viewers to inhabit a space where the boundaries between sky and earth dissolved, where movement was constant, and where the act of drifting became a poetic metaphor for artistic and personal exploration.