Julie Fragar

Julie Fragar made the large painting, Goose Chase: All of Us Together Here and Nowhere, after her trip to the Azores Islands in Portugal in search of her ancestor Antonio de Fraga. Leaving the Azores in 1850 on an American whaling ship at the age of 12, Antonio was twice shipwrecked and saw most of his fellow crew members killed. The painting collapses time and space, with Fragar’s two children – who were roughly Antonio’s age when he left the Azores – momentarily united with him in the fictional space of the painting.

Fragar’s work is included in numerous public and private collections around Australia and internationally including the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Queensland Art Gallery. She has been the recipient of several Australia Council residencies and grants and in 2016 won Tidal: City of Devonport National Art Award.