Thirty Years of Painting, Two Places, One Book
For months, I have been doing something I put off for years: gathering every artwork from nearly thirty years of painting into one catalogue.
It has been a strange, tender kind of archaeology.
I found paintings I had forgotten, and early pieces already reaching towards what I am still chasing today. Running through it all was a thread of colour, and a quiet growth in strength that I hadn't noticed while I was living it.
When I first saw all those years laid out together, there were so many paintings that I could hardly breathe.
And then came the sizes, the titles, the memories attached to each one, and I groaned at the mountain of work in front of me.
But somewhere along the way, the mountain became something else.
This catalogue is a lifeline.
My own lifeline, created painting by painting and held together in a single document. Nearly thirty years of looking, feeling, questioning, discovering and making.
I felt humbled, and silent, in a way that felt almost sacred.
And then came another question.
Could one book rise out of all of this?
Could I find a theme that would allow a single book to exist, for now? A book cannot hold everything, after all.
So what should it hold?
The answer arrived quietly, the way true things often do.
I kept returning to two places.
Amorgos and Siran.
Amorgos, Greece
Three months on an island of stairs, white and blue walls, and a light so intense it felt like a presence.
I swam, I walked, and I spent long, long hours alone.
With nothing asking for my attention, my inner world opened, and the paintings came through raw and unguarded.
Every afternoon, I swam in the turquoise sea, my tanned skin cool in the water, and rested there, silent and buoyant.
I loved the feeling of the water against my skin, and the way the colours were so clear you could almost see through them.
I couldn't stop painting those turquoises.
They had become part of me.
Siran, France
Four weeks at La Maison Kitsungi in 2025.
A different rhythm and a different kind of quiet, but the same extraordinary gift of time, and of being somewhere the land slowly teaches you how to look.
Siran gave me softness.
There was a gentleness in its autumn colours. I could feel summer coming to an end in all its glory, warm and generous, giving way to the softer, earthier tones of the changing season.
Where Amorgos had been vivid and expansive, Siran seemed to ask something quieter of me.
To notice the subtle shifts. To let the landscape settle within me. To find beauty in the gentler moments of change.
Placed side by side, these two residencies hold so much of what matters most to me: nature, memory, colour, and the ongoing conversation between the world outside and the one within.
Both asked me to slow down.
Both gave me space to listen.
And both showed me that, in remote places, away from the usual demands of everyday life, my work has a way of telling the truth.
The Book
And so, out of these two chapters, a book began to take shape.
A collection of paintings and photographs that brings these places together, not because they are alike, but because of what each allowed me to discover.
Two landscapes. Two experiences. Two very different expressions of colour and light.
And somewhere between them, a thread connecting the artist I was then with the one I am still becoming.
The book will be available to purchase at the opening of my upcoming exhibition, SUNLIT, UNSPOKEN, on 7 November, and from then onwards. It is also available through my website.
In many ways, the book feels like a natural companion to the exhibition.
SUNLIT, UNSPOKEN moves between two bodies of work – one outward, filled with colour, light and joy, and the other more inward, contemplative and quietly revealing.
The book belongs in both.
Perhaps that is what I have come to understand through this process of gathering, remembering and looking back.
That the bright and the quiet have always existed together in my work.
And perhaps in me, too.
If you can come to the exhibition, I would love to see you there.
Stand in the light with me, and find the quieter room too.
With all my love,
Kirana xx
What's On:
Some paintings offer themselves immediately, in the first encounter with colour.
Others reveal themselves more slowly, in what only becomes visible when we stop looking and begin noticing.
This exhibition moves in both directions at once.
The first is outward – sunlit.
These paintings are filled with colour, with light caught and reflected, with the quiet joy that rises unexpectedly from ordinary moments. They are bright because the world, when we truly allow ourselves to see it, is bright. Because colour is its own form of honesty.
The second moves inward – unspoken.
Here, the paintings slow down. They leave space to look, to wonder, and to feel. They are less interested in answers than in what begins to emerge when we sit with stillness long enough. They invite us to notice the quiet things – the feelings, memories and small truths that only reveal themselves when the noise falls away.
In the studio, making these works became its own form of contemplation. Each painting was a gentle negotiation between intention and surrender, between knowing and discovering. That same conversation exists throughout this exhibition.
These two bodies of work are not opposites so much as companions.
The sunlit and the unspoken need one another.
Colour without contemplation can become spectacle. Contemplation without colour can become austere.
Held together, they become an invitation.
To slow down.
To notice.
And perhaps to discover what has been quietly waiting for you all along.
I would love for you to come and experience SUNLIT-UNSPOKEN in person – and perhaps bring a friend, or gather a few of your favourite people and make an afternoon of it.
There is always something very special about experiencing an exhibition together. Art gives us something different to talk about, to notice and to share, and I love seeing the conversations that unfold when people move through the work side by side.
The exhibition will remain open until 28 November, with viewing hours Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10am–2pm.
If those days don't suit, I am also very happy to welcome you for a private viewing by appointment. For those further afield, I can take you through the exhibition personally via Zoom, so you can experience the works, see their scale and details, and talk through any pieces that speak to you.
Private viewings are also warmly welcomed for interior designers, architects and those sourcing artwork for residential, hospitality or commercial spaces. I would be delighted to spend time with you exploring individual works, scale, placement and pieces that may suit a particular project or space.
SAVE THE DATE | SUNLIT-UNSPOKEN
Exhibition Opening Night
3pm, Saturday, 7 November 2026
Kirana’s Home Gallery
Exhibition continues until 28 November 2026
Mondays, Wednesdays + Saturdays
10am–2pm
Private and Zoom viewings available by appointment
I can't wait to welcome you.
With love,
Kirana xx
Open Studio + Walk in Art Class
Next Dates - 14th, 28th & 31st of October, 11th, 14th, 18th and 21st of November
Kirana’s studio is open on Wednesdays from 10am to 2pm, and most Saturdays from 9am to 12pm (see dates above). You’re warmly invited to drop in, have a look around the studio, enjoy a cup of tea or hot chocolate, and stay for a relaxed chat. There’s no pressure and no expectations – just an open door and a welcoming space.
By popular demand, Saturdays also include a walk-in art class from 10am to 12pm. This relaxed and friendly session is open to everyone – whether you’re an experienced artist or simply curious to explore your creative side. All materials are provided, $70 per person (GST included), and the focus is on enjoying the process of making art in a calm, supportive environment.
We look forward to welcoming you into the studio.
Art Class Details:
10am – 12pm
$70 per person (GST included)
All materials included
We look forward to welcoming you into the studio.
One on One Art Lessons
Can be booked suitable to your timetable, tailored to your needs and all ages.
$110 p/h (GST inc) | All art materials included
ArtSHINE x Kirana Haag collection on Threadless
Friends & Family Code: FAMd6e722b
Final Notes
All the above are also great gift ideas for a loved one who would benefit from some breathing space and would love to try something new.
If you would like more information on any of these workshops or to book, simply reply to this email or contact me on 0448446466.
With lots of love,
Kirana xx