Re-imagining the Self
Hosted at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf, this three-part workshop invites participants to explore self-portraiture through collage, painting, and imagination. Led by Kyra Henley, the sessions move from developing a composition to resolving a finished work.
Participants will begin by creating collaged studies using found imagery, memory, and personal references. These ideas are then translated onto canvas through either a grid method or a more intuitive approach. The final session focuses on refining and resolving the work, allowing space for reflection, experimentation, and adjustment.
Drawing on Henley’s practice, the workshop encourages playful and open-ended approaches to identity, where figures, objects, and landscapes are reconfigured into unexpected narratives. Sessions include demonstration, guided making, and informal group discussion.
Please note, this is a three-part workshop series and participants are required to book and attend all sessions.
All materials are welcome. Please bring your preferred painting medium along with any images or references you would like to work with.
Places are limited to ensure focused guidance and feedback.
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Session Program:
Session 1 - Plan composition
Saturday 20 June, 10:30am-12.30pm
Collage and or make sketches using images from books and magazines, memory and imagination.
Session 2 - Scale onto canvas
Saturday 27 June, 10:30am-12.30pm
Paint composition onto canvas using the grid method or free paint using images and sketches for reference.
Session 3 - Finish the portrait
Saturday 5 Jul, 10:30am-12.30pm
Resolve the painting, this may require as much looking and thinking as physical painting.
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About Kyra Henley
Kyra Henley is an artist formally based in Paddington. Working in figuration, Henley’s compositions begin as collages of found images. Disparate objects, figures, and landscapes arranged in fanciful combinations rendered in a flat painterly style lose their narrative the longer you observe them. Henley’s Neo-pop palette imbues a sense of nostalgia with the scenes and subjects depicted questioning the sentimentality of our collective past.
Kyra held a solo exhibition at Nasha Gallery in 2025 and has been in many prizes including the Mosman Art Prize, KAAF Art Prize, The Fishers Ghost Art Award, and The Portia Geach Memorial Award.
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Where | Blackburn Gardens & Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf
Cost | $75 for three sessions - + booking fee
Capacity | 15 participants (bookings essential)
Refund policy | For a refund, cancel your booking at least 1week before the event date. Please note that booking fees are not refundable.
Transport & arrival | Accessible via buses 324, 325 and 326, or a short walk from Edgecliff Station and Double Bay Wharf. After-hours parking is available at Woollahra Council Chambers (536 New South Head Rd, Double Bay NSW 2028). For ride-share drop-off, please request Council Chambers.
Image | Courtesy of Kyra Henley.