Una Bell, Ode to the Sun, 2024, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.

UNA BELL

Ode to the Sun is a residency and solo exhibition recognising the sun as the centre of life on this planet.

Through paintings, linocuts and poetry, Ode to the Sun explores not only the sun itself, but everything it is connected to. From Greek mythology and human history, to the gentle light reflected by the moon, eclipses, flora, local native butterflies and moths, Bell explores the importance of sun as a universal symbol and source of creation which permits life to flourish or be destroyed.

“We live in a beautiful but fragile world, ruled by the sun. In a constantly moving and changing universe, we pursue our lives usually oblivious to our dependence on the sun. Without the sun we would not be here. The sun has been extolled in human culture since time immemorial.” Una Bell.

ARTIST BIO

Una Bell is an award-winning Perth-based hills artist, who blends tradition and contemporary expression, and is well known for her environment research, workshops, and publications.

Bell attended various art schools and studied drawing, design, painting, printmaking and millinery. Her qualifications include a B.A. Hons. (Social Science, 1994) and a Graduate Diploma in Landcare (1996). For the past 40 years, she has participated in many open and group exhibitions, has had six exhibitions with her husband who is also an artist and four solo exhibitions. Ode to the Sun is her fifth solo exhibition. Awards include Best in Show, Darlington Arts Festival (2011), and Winner Kalamunda Captured section, Kalamunda Lions Club Art Prize (2020).

Bell is also a Research Associate at the WA Herbarium has produced several publications about native grasses in South-west WA, has won several awards for volunteer bushcare work, and was recently recognised by DBCA for 25 years of volunteer work.

Previous image: Una Bell, Pomegranates with Seeds, 2025, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.