Lightbox Lane
Lightbox Lane is a biannual public art program that transforms a public space in the Lismore CBD into an evolving outdoor gallery. It showcases local creativity and helps celebrate the cultural identity of the Lismore region.
The program provides opportunities for local artists, students and emerging creatives to present work in a professional public setting. Through each exhibition, Lightbox Lane highlights the stories, perspectives and creative voices that contribute to Lismore’s community identity.
The lane also features a permanent rainforest mural by Lismore artist Kate Stroud, whose abstract interpretation of local native flora adds a striking backdrop to the space.
2026 exhibition
The 2026 exhibition theme is Regenerative Landscapes & Nature’s Rhythms. This round explores the seasonal beauty of the Northern Rivers and reflects on regeneration, conservation and the patterns of the natural world.
The theme aligns with the Lismore, Nimbin and Villages Destination Management Plan 2024–2028 by focusing on local culture, creative expression, environmental sustainability and nature-based visitor experiences. It also supports Lismore’s position as a regional creative hub and celebrates the strong connection between art, place and community.
Photo: 2026 Lightbox Lane exhibition
Featured artists
The current Lightbox Lane exhibition features works by Claudie Frock and Jacqueline Scotcher. Two artworks from each artist were selected for installation in the April 2026 round.
Claudie Frock
Claudie Frock is a featured artist in the April 2026 Lightbox Lane exhibition. Her selected works contribute to the exhibition theme, Regenerative Landscapes & Nature’s Rhythms, and reflect the role of creativity in interpreting place, environment and community.
"My art practice grows from a sustained relationship with land and an attentiveness to the quiet rhythms that shape all living systems. Working on Bundjalung Country in the Northern Rivers region, I engage with landscape as a living collaborator, one that holds memory, change, and the ongoing cycles of seasons.
Developing mark-making materials from plants and fungal sources that are foraged, grown, and gifted from the very land that I make my work in and about, my practice unfolds through walking, gathering, observing, and responding, using slow material processes such as distilling botanical pigments into natural inks, dyes, and charcoals. These methods ask for patience and care, allowing time itself to become an active material.
Regeneration in my work is understood as both ecological and social. Living and working in a region shaped by climate disruption and recovery, I am interested in how creative practice can echo the stories of place and its landscapes, repairing through repetition, resilience, and collective tending and mending.
Our shared region’s ecosystem informs my visual language, offering ways to reflect on human, non-human and more-than-human relationships and connections. Much of my practice is relational and participatory, emerging through shared encounters with place, echoing the shapes and stories of the land, and honouring the knowledge held in land, bodies, stories, and seasons.
Across expanded drawing, installation, soft sculpture, and community-led processes, my work aligns with regenerative landscapes by working alongside rather than imposing upon them. Through slowness, reciprocity, and care, my artwork seeks to create spaces for reflection and renewal, where art becomes a form of listening and regeneration, a shared and ongoing practice.
Jacqueline Scotcher
Jacqueline Scotcher is a featured artist in the April 2026 Lightbox Lane exhibition. Her selected works form part of Lightbox Lane’s current presentation and help showcase the strength and diversity of creative practice in the Lismore region.
"In my art practice, I explore how developing a personal relationship with the surrounding environment and its natural rhythms opens up deeper inner knowing. Connecting with place through abstract painting is a portal into understanding the self. When we deepen bodily connections with nature, greater respect and empathy are emanated for self and then out into the world. At a time when lives are increasingly online and disconnected from the local, I see this connection as vital.
These paintings are born from attending to rhythms in the local environment. My kitchen window frames the moon as it rises over the hinterland horizon, providing moments of awe amid busy days. Concept #1 reflects this repeated experience. Having grown up in Lismore, the rolling hinterland landscape has featured heavily in my art practice over the years."
About the work
Kate Stroud set out to create something distinct from the realist rainforest murals already found across Lismore. Her abstract approach draws on the iconic shapes of native flora from the region, using a bold, bright palette that bridges nature and imagination. Plant species were selected through community consultation and Kate's own excursions into the surrounding Big Scrub, using field guides to identify species with compelling forms.
The mural design is echoed in the sculptural fencing panels at Harold Fredericks Carpark.
About the artist
Kate Stroud is a Lismore-based artist, sign writer and large-scale muralist whose joyful, provocative and sometimes rebellious work is synonymous with the outspoken creative spirit of the Northern Rivers. Her vibrant murals and signs can be found across laneways, footpaths, walls, arcades, shopfronts and local business interiors throughout the region. A fierce advocate for community-led development and a thriving creative economy, Kate's work is a constant celebration of identity, place and survival.
Here are some other works displayed in previous years.
Penelope Sienna
Penelope Sienna is a visual artist based on Bundjalung Country, Lismore, New South Wales. Her practice merges experimental printmaking with diverse mixed media techniques. Deeply inspired by her surroundings, Sienna's work reflects the unique juxtaposition of urban life and the critically endangered Big Scrub rainforest. Through her art, she seeks to foster a profound appreciation for this precious ecosystem, emphasising the impact of human choices on its survival. By highlighting the delicate balance between humanity and nature, Sienna invites viewers to consider their role in protecting the less than one percent of the Big Scrub that remains.
Instagram @pensienna
Elena Matiussi Pimm
Elena’s piece is a mixed-media installation that underscores the vulnerability of frog species in and around the Big Scrub region. Australia's amphibian population is imperilled by the multifaceted threats of climate change, habitat destruction, disease, and pollution. Her lino print showcases a range of notable Australian frogs, including the Golden Bell Frog, Whirring Tree Frog, Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog, Robust Bleating Tree Frog, Red-eyed Tree Frog, Graceful Tree Frog, Wallum Sedge Frog, and Green Tree Frog.
Elena conducted research to accurately identify various frog species and their habitats, including discussions with ecologist Sandy Pimm. The Green Tree Frog (centre) was chosen deliberately as a symbol of hope for Australian amphibians. This species embodies resilience and adaptability, thriving despite environmental pressures and maintaining a robust population. Her artwork aims not only to highlight the plight of these delicate creatures but also to inspire a deeper appreciation and need for urgent action towards conserving their natural habitats.
Instagram @314na.art
Dallas Rae
Dallas Rae has created a multi-plate reduction linocut, a blend of woodcut and linocut techniques. Five layers were printed, each stripping away more of the lino. The piece features three threatened animals from the Northern Rivers: the Brush-tailed rock wallaby, the spotted-tailed quoll, and the squirrel glider. These creatures face endangerment due to land clearing, loss of breeding spaces, and the invasion of feral animals like foxes and cats.
Dallas Rae is a figurative artist specialising in painting, printmaking, and mixed media. Her work delves into environmental issues, especially those concerning Australian wildlife, extinction, and loss. With a focus on figurative and narrative elements, her artwork critically examines environmental and cultural topics, often drawing connections to Australian colonial history. Through her art, she explores the relationships between contemporary environmental challenges and historical events.
Peter Faulkner
A Bundjalung man from the Widjabul clan, Peter’s artwork reflects his saltwater and freshwater people ancestry, and a sense of energy and vibrancy of ancestral cultural ways. He says, “My artwork illustrates community togetherness and contemporary cultural expression. I like striking, simple colours and use them in printmaking, painting and sculpture.” Peter is a visual storyteller sharing the ancestry and history of his people. His art is his weapon.
The artists in front of the lightboxes.
