Leaf by Leaf is an exhibition of abstract paintings by Queensland artist Vicki Buttrose, exploring regeneration, memory, and the quiet act of beginning again.
The works respond to a patch of Australian bushland where the artist now lives — land previously cleared back to bare dirt. Rather than depicting recovery as a dramatic event, Leaf by Leaf traces its slow return: seedlings emerging, leaves gathering, and light shifting through the trees over time.
Using layered paint, charcoal, and gestural mark-making, Buttrose translates close observation into abstract form. Leaves appear as markers of memory and time, while tree trunks and branches act as witnesses to loss and endurance. Colour and line overlap and shift, reflecting the uneven, patient nature of regeneration.
While grounded in a specific landscape, the exhibition also operates as a metaphor for transition — reflecting the artist’s experience of arriving in a new place and shaping a new life.
Leaf by Leaf invites viewers to slow down and notice what quietly returns, one leaf at a time.
