Alone on New Soil

A lone woman stands before a small farmhouse, modest, weathered, isolated against the vastness of the land.
Inspired by the convict women transported to Australia, this work moves beyond the voyage and into the quiet reality that followed. The sea may have delivered her here, but it is the land that keeps her.
For many women in the colony, life was marked by absence — husbands assigned elsewhere, partners lost, families an ocean away. The farmhouse becomes both refuge and confinement. It is shelter, but also solitude.

Living in a new country meant learning unfamiliar seasons, harsh landscapes, and the discipline of endurance. It meant building something from nothing, often alone.

This work reflects the unseen labour of women who held homes together in isolation. Women who planted gardens in foreign soil. Women who built belonging slowly, even when belonging did not come easily.
It is a portrait of survival after the ship has gone.

This painting comes framed.

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A visual story teller at heart, Elise creates art about women and place. Drawing inspiration from history and her surroundings the work explores nostalgia, identity and our connection to the land. Her portraits often give a voice to women whose stories were never told, revealing inner strength, beauty and quiet resilience.

A graduate from The University of Melbourne and a finalist in several art prizes, Elise blends traditional techniques with a contemporary sensibility. As she explains,
“I often like to incorporate sewing, stitching, lace and lettering in my work. Women have always helped shape the world - not always through grand gestures, but often through quiet and unseen work.”

Dividing her time between her city studio and country workspace built from repurposed materials on the site of an old cowshed, Elise’s practice is grounded in reflection, renewal and the stories that connect us all.