New solo exhibition from local artist Kat Parker to open in Shepparton Art Museum’s Community Gallery on 15 November 2025.

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is pleased to present a new solo exhibition from local artist Kat Parker in the museum’s Hugh D.T Williamson Community Gallery on 15 November.

Lament – A memorial of Australian extinction features a new series of Parker’s sculptures and prints depicting little-known Australian species lost to extinction. Based in Shepparton, Parker is an emerging artist working in the field of printmaking who imbues her intricate artworks with a deep care for ecology and nature. Lament marks the first solo exhibition for Parker after a series of features in group exhibitions, including SAM Fresh 2024 and SAM Open 2025.

With a body of work developed over the past 12 months, Lament explores the twofold tragedy of Australia’s unfortunate legacy of high animal extinction rates and the void left by these lost species in our ecosystem and in our collective memory.

Included among Parker’s meticulously crafted sculptures are reconstructions of the Paradise Parrot, last seen in 1927; the Lesser Bilby, not seen since the 1960s; and the Northern Pig-Footed Bandicoot, lost to altered habitats and preyed on by introduced predators. Each of Parker’s sculptures are created from layers of linocuts printed onto repurposed paper, and measure to the real-life scale of the animals, with two-dimensional, annotated prints of each animal lining the walls of the gallery drawing out their individual stories.

Caroline Esbenshade, SAM Curator - Community says of Parker’s exhibition:

“A lot of artists respond to climate change and humanity’s impact on the environment, but few engage with the specifics as deeply as Kat Parker does—there's an enormous amount of research and sensitivity that underpins her work.

Handling the pieces—which are life-sized—can be quite eerie; it’s like paper taxidermy. But when I realise what I hold in my hands, what audiences will be seeing, it really hits home that this is perhaps the closest we’ll ever come to experiencing these animals. It transforms a fact you might read in a history or biology textbook into something tangible and sorrowful.

Lament is a sharing of these species’ extinction, and a call to action—to be more aware of the impacts we each, individually and collectively, have on the world around us.”

An artist talk with Kat Parker exploring the exhibition will be held at SAM on Saturday 6 December at 1.30pm. Registrations to the free event can be made via Humanitix: https://events.humanitix.com/sam-talks-kat-parker

Lament – A memorial of Australian extinction will be on display at SAM in the Hugh D.T. Williamson Community Gallery from 15 November until mid-March 2026.

ENDS

About the artist:

Kat Parker is an emerging artist based in Shepparton. In 2021, she graduated from RMIT with a Bachelor of Fine Art, specialising in printmaking. Parker’s practice focuses on the dysfunctional relationship humanity has with nature, with a particular interest in promoting the overlooked aspects of our environment, especially unremarkable animals and extinctions. Her practice aims to encourage an appreciation for, and love of, nature through printmaking and paper art processes. Parker’s artworks have recently been included in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize at South Australian Museum, Not Your Kitchen Lino at Burrinja Cultural Centre, Fresh 2024 at Shepparton Art Museum and Geelong Art Gallery’s Acquisitive Print Awards.

About SAM:

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is located on Yorta Yorta Country, Shepparton, Victoria.

Serving as a dynamic cultural and community hub for the Greater Shepparton region, SAM is one of Australia’s leading regional art museums and the newest purpose-built collecting institution in regional Victoria. SAM houses one of the nation’s most significant collections of Australian ceramics and regional holdings of South Eastern Indigenous Art, and presents an inclusive museum experience that inspires creativity, forges meaningful connections, and celebrates the unique stories of our region.

Through its programs, events, collection, and temporary exhibitions, SAM creates opportunities for artists and creatives to engage audiences with contemporary ideas and issues, allowing the stories of our country’s ancient cultures and contemporary multicultural Australia to be discovered and exchanged.

Media enquiries, please contact: Mikela Guseli, Communications Officer, SAM

p: (03) 4804 5009 e: mguseli@sheppartonartmuseum.com.au