Flesh in Bloom

Exhibition Opening: 12-2pm, Saturday 6th June 2026
Venue: Arts Space Gallery
Tuesday-Thursday 10am-4pm
Friday-Saturday 10am-2pm

This project is supported through the State Government’s Regional Arts and Cultural Investment Program, and Regional Arts WA.

Flesh in Bloom is a body of photographic & botanical works developed during Laura Sikes’ Next Level Fellowship with Regional Arts WA. Working across studio photography and collage, Sikes layers botanical materials onto bodily forms, producing images that serve as portraiture, arrangement, and abstract composition.

Drawing from parallel practices as artist and florist, Sikes approaches image-making through acts of collection and arrangement. 
Organic materials are gathered and arranged alongside the body, with skin, petals, leaves, shadows, and landscape treated as equal elements within the image. Through processes of layering and re-photography, both in and beyond the studio, forms merge between physical presence and constructed surface.

Developed in collaboration with models, the works show material sensitivity to both the human and non-human natural world.
 Physical and digital methods are used in dialogue, allowing images to accumulate texture and abstraction across multiple stages of production.

Flesh In Bloom is an intimate exploration of surface, material and process.

 

The Artist – Laura Sikes 

Laura Sikes is a neurodiverse artist and florist living and working on Wardandi Noongar Boodja, in Koombannaup (Bunbury, WA). Working across photography, collage, printmaking, video and installation, their practice explores the complex relationships between the body, place, and technology. Drawing on lived experience and intuitive process, Sikes’ work engages with spiritualism, the natural world, and digital culture.

Sikes holds a Diploma of Photography from North Metro TAFE and studied Contemporary Art, Photography and Fashion at Edith Cowan University. They have exhibited widely across Australia, including at the National Portrait Gallery, Perth Centre for Photography, Paper Mountain, Spectrum Project Space and Kolbusz Space.

In 2025, Sikes was awarded a Next Level Fellowship through Regional Arts WA to support the development of their first solo exhibition, scheduled for June 2026 at Arts Narrogin.

Sikes acknowledges their work is created on sacred, stolen land — always was, always will be. 

Meet the Artists “In Progress” Wed 3 June 1-2pm

Drop in during exhibition installation for a relaxed behind-the-scenes chat with the artists. Enjoy a cuppa, hear about their work and creative process, and see the exhibition come together. Everyone is welcome!