Three Waroona artists explore the complexity of life from beginning to end in new exhibition Alpha Omega

The chaos of the unknown, the complexity of life, and the shadow of the future are the themes explored in Waroona artists Carmen Tyrer, Lorriane Bawden and Helen Henderson’s new exhibit Alpha Omega, opening soon. All three artists will show their approaches to the beginning and the end, through intricate sculptures, dazzling resin art, and vibrant paintings on display at the Alcoa Mandurah Art Gallery from June 7. The work on display is as complex and varied as the women who have created them who have all embraced the concept of Alpha Omega in their own thought-provoking way. Bawden says she does her best work when painting in the cold early hours before dawn. Art has always played an important part in her life as she explores the spiritual side of the world and all the things that could be. “To me, Alpha Omega means the beginning to the end,” she said. “God created the world, and that’s what Alpha means to me, so I’ve done the bits in between — the people, personalities and all the stuff that people don’t understand.” Bawden said she often did not know what she was going to paint, but it came to her through the process. Away from the spiritual, Henderson sees the world from a more scientific perspective. Using resin art, she explores the concept of Alpha Omega through the totality of the cosmos. Henderson said as a child, she would sit on her swing set watching the stars, wrapped up in the enormity of the cosmos. “I would swing and look at the stars,” she said. For Henderson, Alpha Omega is an opportunity to explore the life of the universe from beginning to end through her resin art, a medium often unseen in the fine art world. “One of the things I’m passionate about is raising the profile of resin art to a fine art,” she said. Looking more introspectively, Tyrer finds the concept of Alpha Omega a more personal journey. Coming to Australia as a refugee from Chile, her artwork is a journey from her early representational work to her more recent abstract art. Feeling as though she is now in the Omega side of her life, Tyrer is exploring her changes from beginning to end through the medium of sculpture. “I have to be true to myself because everything is evolving — one day it is this, and the next day it is different,” she said. “Life is always moving, changing and exploring.” All the artists will be selling work during the exhibition. The official opening is on June 7 at 6.30pm, and the work will remain on display at the gallery until July 14.