Stillness

Michael Reid Murrurundi is delighted to announce the imminent arrival of our second solo exhibition by Eora/Sydney-based painter Heidi Lai. Titled Stillness, the artist’s forthcoming series can be previewed by request and arrives after her celebrated and highly successful solo debut, Quiet Hours, which followed her breakout showing as a finalist in the 2024 National Emerging Art Prize.

Stillness announces a broadening of scope and ambition for Lai’s practice, while furthering her ongoing explorations of presence, pause and the emotional texture of life through her softly expressive and richly evocative urban scenes. Set within cafés, streets and restaurants, Stillness turns its attention to moments that “often go unnoticed in our everyday lives”.

In these intimate yet softly cinematic city moments, the artist captures “the delicate balance between movement and pause,” allowing time to slow as ordinary gestures – sitting, standing, drinking, watching – become meditations on human connection. “Through subtle light and expressive brushwork,” she says, the paintings reveal “the transient atmosphere of everyday moments.”

These moments materialise through a distinctive painterly language that moves between areas of keenly observed detail and atmospheric flashes of fluid colour – like flickering memories from a flâneuse’s city wanderings, frozen streetscapes glimpsed through a rain-streaked window or darkened, brass-clad brasserie interiors steeped in a filmic haze.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Lai’s practice is shaped by the rhythm and density of city life. “Growing up in the bustling city of Hong Kong shaped the way I observe the world,” she says. “I quietly watch the subtle interactions between people and their surroundings, often questioning whether the pace of modern life leaves us too distracted to be truly present.” Working in oil, her expressive brushstrokes evoke movement and memory, distilling fleeting experiences into scenes rich with emotional resonance and romance.

“Through my art, I encourage people to pause, look at our surroundings, and appreciate the significance of the ordinary moment,” says Lai, whose works will be available to preview and acquire by request and at our Eora/Sydney gallery before they travel to Murrurundi next month.

For enquiries, please email amandamackinlay@michaelreid.com.au