Sydney Contemporary 2026

CBD Gallery’s presentation at the 10th edition of Sydney Contemporary brings together three leading contemporary artists, each deeply attuned to nature and our position within it.

Here, a unique blend of contemporary visions and artistic heritage is tied to the physical and cultural landscape—where history, memory and regeneration are woven throughout the works of Talya Brookman, Sophie Lampert and Michelle van Eimeren.

Through the eyes of these visionaries, we are invited to explore the profound relationship between art, nature and the structures that surround us.


Talya Brookman's richly layered paintings are steeped in the history and tradition of artmaking, yet possess a distinctly contemporary edge. They move beyond the experience of a literal landscape, rather enveloping the viewer in an introspective and immersive realm.

Emotionally charged, Brookman’s work channels the energy and vitality of the natural world. Each piece is discovered rather than planned, emerging through an intuitive process informed by her enduring fascination with fractal structures found in nature and their relationship to the ways we perceive and interpret our surroundings.

Brookman treats these forms not as subjects to be illustrated, but as ways of thinking about growth, change and interconnectedness.

Sophie Lampert: Weaving, often regarded as a mundane activity, is frequently overlooked in the grand narrative of human progress. However, re-examination of this occupation can position it as playing a central role in the history of technology, commerce and civilisation.

One reason textiles have been overlooked in the historical record is that materials such as stone, pottery, and architecture visibly endure, whereas woven materials leave a more unassuming footprint. Another reason may be linked to who was in charge of the technology. In ancient Greece and Rome, for example, fabric production was a primary form of labour expected of women. Weaving myths serve as records of female activity, intelligence, and socio-political power.

With this body of work, Lampert seeks to readjust the spotlight and generate recognition for achievements and discoveries that were never peripheral, but foundational. Upholstered in black velvet and intricately adorned with bead embroidery, the works draw on the histories of textiles and craft, practices traditionally embedded within female experience.

Michelle van Eimeren: A deep reverence for nature permeates Van Eimeren’s practice. Drawing on an intimate knowledge of natural dyes and pigments, she gathers windfallen plant matter from the temperate rainforests of Robertson, NSW, on the traditional lands of the Gundungurra and Dharawal peoples.

Each specimen is a fleeting encounter, preserved through the alchemical process of imprinting its essence onto delicate silk panels. For Van Eimeren, this slow process of gathering, preserving and transforming invites moments of reflection and discovery. Each work honours the impermanence of nature while drawing connections to personal and collective human experience.

Through this process, Van Eimeren considers growth not as a fixed state or destination, but as a perpetual process of becoming, shaped by cycles of renewal, transformation and change.