Meg Mader, You’re Cactus!, 2024, gouache on wooden Panel, 407mm x 508mm, courtesy of the artist
April 11- June 20, 2025
Opening: Friday April 11, 5:30-7:30pm
Gallery II, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta
Free entry, all welcome
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You can find Patterned Disproportion in The Mill’s Gallery II, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).
Gallery II is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.
Accessibility
The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.
Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.
The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.
Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.
The Mill is excited to present Patterned Disproportion, a new solo exhibition by Clare Valley based artist Meg Mader.
In this exhibition Meg uses her signature vibrant painting style, taking viewers on an imaginative journey through playful, disproportionate and extraordinary scenes. Checkerboard floors and ornate wallpaper come together to give a glimpse into the lives of music-playing ornaments, mischievous gnomes and a most sophisticated doll house. We’re invited to fill in the narrative, whose beautiful house is this? Is this maggie performing a Billie Holiday tribute? Indeed, could the ornaments and pets in our own homes also have such glamorous secret lives?
In bringing to life the ordinary and everyday, Meg also imbues her characters with agency, a portrait of a dog is playfully titled ‘Fetch me Equality’, mirroring the sentiment of her portrait titled ‘Determination Inspiration Imagination’. The work is equally entertaining and playful as it is personal and political.
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As an illustrative artist, I’m captivated by the vibrancy of acrylic ink and gouache, using them to bring life and colour to objects, animals, and scenes. Recently, my work has delved into the role of patterns, which evoke a sense of time and place within each composition. For this exhibition, I have created a series of paintings using objects, patterns and colour to capture an imagined moment in time. Alongside these are still-life scenes drawn from a mix of found, gifted, and personal objects—each carrying its own story—arranged in settings with playful, disproportionate scales.
The altered scales introduce a sense of surrealism, inviting viewers to see everyday objects in new and unexpected ways. Patterns within each disproportionate room add depth and rhythm, framing each scene within a distinct narrative context.
The exhibition is an entertaining, immersive journey inviting viewers to experience a new life for ordinary objects, reimagined in a timeless, dynamic space. This exhibition encourages a closer look at the ordinary, a rethinking of scale, and an interactive encounter with past and present woven together.
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Meg Mader works predominantly with acrylic inks, gouache, and pen to create vibrant illustrations of animals, still life, and pop culture mash-ups. She has participated in many group exhibitions. Noteworthy are her duo exhibitions with collaborator Stu Nankivell, where she ventures into augmented reality, adding another layer to her works. In her solo exhibitions, Meg explores themes and narratives of her choice including literary mashups and still life, allowing for unrestrained expression.
Her artistic style has earned her a Highly Commended and the Incentive Award at the Clare Valley Portrait Prize along with winning the Balco Art Prize's Best Work on Paper. A pivotal moment arrived when Meg was chosen for the Nebula Program by Country Arts SA, offering her the chance to deepen her practice and build connections with fellow regional artists. Meg's art often takes the form of commissioned pieces, frequently commemorating beloved pets and cherished memories.
Since 2017, Meg has expanded her artistic practice by organising art events and workshops across South Australia and a series of large events at Puddleduck Vineyard in Tasmania. Her involvement in a local arts committee and establishment of a weekly art group are other ways to enjoy arts within the community.
This exhibition has support from
