“Zoë Fitzherbert’s paintings unfold slowly. At first glance, they appear atmospheric: mountain ranges dissolving into weather, bodies of water catching and releasing light, horizons softened almost to the point of disappearance. But the longer one spends with them, the more structurally complex they become. Beneath the veils of colour and mist-like transitions lies an intricate architecture of repeated marks, dense fields of fine linear notation that echo cartographic systems, contour lines and survey markings.

Raised among the muted greens and blue-greys of the Southern Highlands and now living in lutruwita / Tasmania, Fitzherbert paints from a position suspended between recollection and immediate encounter. These are not straightforward depictions of place. Rather, they are landscapes filtered through distance: places half remembered, atmospheres carried forward internally, fragments of terrain reconstructed.”

— Michael Reid Southern Highlands, 2026