Image: Evie Cahir
Pastille is a new series of works on paper by Melbourne-based artist Evie Cahir, marking her first solo exhibition in Sydney following presentations in Melbourne and at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. At the heart of Cahir’s practice is a deep engagement with light and colour. Her gestural, scratchy pencil marks combine with carefully layered hues to form a distinct visual language—one that captures candid, everyday moments: pulling granola from the oven, reaching for a wet sponge, or reading on sun-warmed rocks after a swim.
The five works that comprise Pastille are vibrant and expressive, filling the gallery with a sense of rhythm and movement, like a storyboard from a summer novel. Continuing her commitment to visual storytelling, this series distills the fleeting nature of lived experience. The exhibition’s title references the relationship between sunlight and wellbeing, evoking the gentle, lingering sweetness of pastel-coloured lollies—something to be savoured slowly, like summer itself.
Evie Cahir, born in Ballarat in 1992, holds a degree in Illustration from NMIT (2013) and now lives and works in Melbourne. She has exhibited widely, including solo shows at the Art Gallery of Ballarat and group exhibitions at Castlemaine Art Museum. Her work has been supported through international residencies in Greece and Finland, as well as locally via Brimbank City Council. In 2025, she will participate in the Billilla Studio Program through Bayside City Council. Cahir has been a finalist in several notable awards, including the Stanthorpe, Len Fox, and Waverley Woollahra Art Prizes.