A towering archway fashioned from humble cardboard boxes stands like a portal to another world; pass beneath it and the line between ordinary and extraordinary begins to blur in captivating and unexpected ways.
Wonderstruck, a major and free exhibition at Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art in Meanjin/Brisbane, is an exploration of wonder that traverses the human experience, the natural world and the intangible divine.
Wonder is an exquisite feeling that has been shown to have a powerful impact on our happiness and wellbeing. It is a salve for stress and loneliness, one that can bring a sense of perspective and curiosity.
Wonderstruck aims to help kids and adults alike get into that state. It is a counterweight to the heaviness of the world – though it does make for a slightly surreal experience as headlines scream of war. But for co-curators Tamsin Cull and Laura Mudge, this is precisely the kind of moment we need to feel wonder most.
“I would be so bold as to say it matters more than ever, because it’s about engaging with the very essence of what it means to be alive,” Cull says.
“Experiencing wonder is a way to empathise with the shared human experience, and with the planet.”
Through this lens, Wonderstruck is not just a break from reality, but a reminder of what’s at stake.
The exhibition includes more than 100 works drawn from Qagoma’s collection, from large-scale installations to small treasures. It is a visual feast – bright, bold and eclectic – with a focus on crowd-pleasers and interaction. Visitors may recognise the monumental hyperrealistic sculptures of Patricia Piccinini and Ron Mueck, or Michael Parekōwhai’s gravity-defying sculpture of a seal balancing a piano on its nose.
Beyond the massive box arch – Slovenian artist Tobias Putrih’s Connection – the gallery explodes in colour, texture and pattern, evoking a childhood sense of play and imagination. A peek through the windows of Pip & Pop’s Rainbow Bridge reveals miniature fantasy worlds where glittering pipe cleaners burst into bloom.
The show’s spirit of curiosity and experimentation extends to the creative process behind the works; to create her lively sculpture Unnameable, Lindy Lee hurled molten lead into cold custard. One of the resulting shapes was 3D-scanned to create a scaled-up mould, which was used to cast the final bronze piece.
The exhibition also features large-scale abstract paintings created by three students from Brisbane state high school during a three-day workshop with artist Gemma Smith. At the end of each session, they cleaned their brushes on to a canvas; the outcome, Leftovers, is a vivid exploration of colour and process, hung as the final work in the series.
Exhibitions usually instruct people not to touch the art but Wonderstruck features several signs letting you know when it’s OK to get “hands on” – great news for younger audiences.
Yayoi Kusama’s The Obliteration Room will undoubtedly be a crowd favourite, given the success of her recent solo show at the National Gallery of Victoria, which was the highest attended ticketed art exhibition in Australian history.
The Obliteration Room was first created as a collaboration between the Japanese artist and the Queensland Art Gallery; here the space has been updated to look like a Queenslander-style home. Over the next few months, visitors will transform the stark white space by plastering its surfaces with colourful dot stickers; the first will be placed by children from a local hospital.
Visitors can also craft miniature aeroplanes for Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan’s ongoing installation In-flight (Project: Another Country), dance beneath a disco ball in Jemima Wyman’s Pattern Bandits, and create their own geometric designs in Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s Patterns of Infinity interactive.
Alongside the fun, Wonderstruck invites us to contemplate the possibility for wonder that can be found within ordinary moments and objects, such as Notice – Forest by Yuken Teruya, who transformed everyday paper shopping bags into delicate sculptures housing hand-cut trees. It is one of many works in Wonderstruck that rewards you for slowing down and looking closer.
Nature’s capacity to fill us with wonder forms one of the exhibition’s six chapters: fleeting moments of beauty are captured in Tim Maguire’s Trees and Snow triptych and Sandra Selig’s Webs From My Garden series, and one wall is dedicated to works by artists from central Australia, including Arrernte painter Albert Namatjira. These vibrant watercolours are a stunning reminder of the beauty of the outback; and a celebration of First Nations deep and unbroken connection to Country.
Wonderstruck also ventures into the divine: a highlight is Kwaia koromb, a small spirit house created by Papua New Guinea-based Kwoma Arts Collective artists Simon Goiyap, Anton Waiawas, Kevin Apsepa, Terry Pakiey, Nelson Makamoi, Jamie Jimok and Rex Maukos. More than just a physical structure, these boldly painted and carved spaces hold deep cultural significance and are believed to be the dwelling place of spirits, ancestors, and deities. Amid the maximalism of Wonderstruck, Kwaia koromb offers a place for quiet reflection.
There is also something spiritual in Sandra Selig’s breathtaking installation mid-air, featuring small styrofoam balls beaded on to hundreds of metres of delicate white thread. From various perspectives, the balls appear to hover in space; you can, if only momentarily, feel that you are also floating, effortlessly, in light.
The exhibition includes work by more than 60 artists: Ah Xian, Gordon Hookey, Madeleine Kelly, Yvonne Koolmatrie, Judy Watson, and Louise Weaver among them. It is a large show, spanning several rooms on the gallery’s expansive ground floor; the works are thoughtfully spaced so, even during busy times, you can get up close.
Wonderstruck is a welcome reprieve from reality, and a reminder that wonder isn’t confined to galleries, or even art – it’s also waiting for us in small everyday moments. The point isn’t to leave the ordinary behind – it’s to return to it with new eyes.
Wonderstruck is open at Qagoma, Brisbane until 6 October; entry is free.
