Night Sonnets

“…and, out of their frames, the shapes of horses, 

a river of manes and hooves that forces 

its way into the room, their swishing tails 

and breath smoking in the whinnying night.” 

  From Night Sonnets by Andrew Shillam. 

This exhibition grew from a series of eleven sonnets I wrote in 2021. These poems employ night as a theme that explores darkness, dreams, mystery, spirituality, and liminal spaces. In 2025 I made a series of ink drawings illustrating the sonnets and published a booklet. The drawings ended up influencing my new sculptures. Night Sonnets combines acrylic paintings, inks and wood sculptures in an exhibition that celebrates the mystery and wonder of life through surreal and dreamlike subject matter.   

I am an artist based in Grafton in Northern NSW. In 2025 I was awarded a Creative Clarence Travelling Fellowship through the Grafton Regional Gallery which has assisted my travel to Newcastle. In conjunction with my exhibition in April, I will be undertaking a short artist residency at The Creator Incubator developing a new wood sculpture.  

I acknowledge the generous support of The Lock-Up, Muloobinba/Newcastle, NSW through their Artist in Residence Program as I will be staying there throughout my exhibition and residency.