Zilverster (Goodwin and Hanenbergh)
(est. 2010, Melbourne)

Zilverster is an ongoing collaborative project known for its elaborate, fantastical and meticulously rendered drawings, paintings and more. The duo was established in 2010 by Melbourne-based artists Sharon Goodwin and Irene Hanenbergh. What started out as an exquisite corpse–style collaboration between the two artists has evolved over the past decade into a rich shared practice culminating in drawings and detailed imagery etched into furniture, glassware and sculptural objects.

In Iru profunden aŭ iru hejmen(Go deep or go home), 2023, Zilverster continues its ongoing exploration of intricately engraved glassware. Over 150 pieces of new and existing vessels appear across two cabinets in The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia’s colonial galleries, as well as five framed drawings in the duo’s idiosyncratic, hyper-meticulous style. Esperanto scripts, ancient annotations, historic illustrations and even pop-culture references materialise on the vessels – some pristine, others cracked and many in calculated disarray. Alone, each vessel signifies a distinct message, but en masse their ambition becomes much more sinuous and complex; a visual code for the viewer to decipher.

Sharon Goodwin has exhibited throughout Australia and around the world. She has had solo exhibitions at Uplands, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Gertrude Contemporary Art Space and TCB Art Inc., and has participated in group exhibitions around Australia and New Zealand. She was a founding committee member of TCB Art Inc. and the collaborative art group DAMP. Her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Monash University and numerous private collections.

Irene Hanenbergh has exhibited extensively over the past 25 years, including at the NGV, University of Queensland Museum, Mona, Centre for Contemporary Art and others in Australia, as well as in galleries in Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands. Represented by Neon Parc, Melbourne, Goodwin has been named twice by Australian Art Collector as one of Australia’s 50 Most Collectable Artists.