New acquisitions add to Forrester treasures

Published on 27 January 2022

Late last year the Forrester Gallery was approached by two of our local artists – Mary Horn and Sue Mclean – about our interest in acquiring some works of theirs for the Forrester Gallery. "Our team were very excited and jumped at the chance," says Curator Imogen Stockwell.

"Mary Horn has very generously donated six of her paintings to the Forrester Gallery, and in the next few weeks we will be accessioning a small collection of her drawings. Mary is a mainstay of our local artistic scene and has hosted regular drawing nights for many years. The Forrester Gallery already had a small number of her works in the collection, but these acquisitions have greatly added to the types of works we hold. We were allowed to choose the works that Mary donated and we chose works that represent the development of her painting style and the different ways she has expressed herself over the decades. Mary’s drawings will be a wonderful addition, as these are not what Mary is known for (she is an abstract painter by reputation) but they showcase just how skilled she is as a drawer.

Sue Mclean is another well-known local figure and she is known for her mixed media and textile works. In 2011 Sue had an exhibition, Echoes at the Forrester Gallery of a collection of work she had completed as part of grieving for the loss of her son. This exhibition was incredibly beautiful and moving, each stitched creation by Sue was accompanied by a poem written by her daughter. Ten years on and Sue was ready to part with her works, she has sold a number of them and then donated one of them to the Forrester Gallery. ‘Fear’ is the first work by Sue Mclean in our collection and we are very happy and honoured to receive this work."