Creative Acts: Artists and their inspirations

Explore the process, passion and practice of five visionary Australian artists through new works commissioned by State Library Victoria.

Step inside the unseen inner worlds of artists to discover the intense, sometimes otherworldly forces that drive them to bring something entirely new into being.

Featuring new commissions by Australian creators including Peter Carey and Dr Deanne Gilson, the exhibition uncovers the spiritual connections, rituals and deeply personal quests that shape these artists' works.

Witness how Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock came from a series of dreams, how Howard Arkley’s Tudor Village series was inspired by Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens and how bohemian icon Vali Myers drew from her spiritual connections with animals.