Overview

Holding the Ground: The Fragility and Resilience of Native Grasses is a new exhibition by Canberra-based artist Karen Holloway at Strathnairn Arts.

Through delicate watercolours, textural forms, and expressive botanical studies, Holloway explores the quiet strength and ecological importance of Australian native grasses—plants that are often overlooked, yet vital to biodiversity, soil health, and the living memory of land. Drawing from field studies and personal encounters with remnant grasslands across the ACT and surrounding regions, her works reflect both the vulnerability of grasses to disturbance and their remarkable resilience, recovery, and interconnectedness with other species.

The exhibition acknowledges the cultural significance of native grasses within First Nations land management and traditions of care for Country, offering visitors a sensory and contemplative experience that is as much about looking closely as it is about slowing down.

Holding the Ground is an invitation to reconnect with the overlooked resilience beneath our feet—reminding you that healing, both ecological and personal, is often quiet, collective, and deeply rooted.