Antonella Eva Morelli: When the Flowers Bloom

TRESPASS, Mix Media Collage on Paper, 297mm x 420mm, 2023 

WHEN THE FLOWERS BLOOM

Antonella Eva Morelli

3rd-14th March

When the Flowers Bloom: The alchemy of pain & desire is an immersive mixed-media collage exhibition by feminist and queer visual artist Antonella Eva Morelli, offering a tender space to witness the long arc of healing after sexual trauma. Across 15 original collage works and large-scale fabric prints: imagery, texture, and photographic fragments become a visual language for what is often unspoken.

Presented in Melbourne/Naarm at No Vacancy in the lead-up to International Women’s Day, the exhibition situates personal testimony within a collective reality. In Australia, over 1 in 5 women (22%, or 2.2 million) have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15, and national research estimates 28.5% of Australians have experienced child sexual abuse. When the Flowers Bloom responds to these truths through the lens of resilience—creating a site for collective witnessing, solidarity, and the possibility of repair.

On opening night, the live cello performance by Wilma threads through the exhibition the emotional undercurrent—sound as the soul companion to image.

And lastly the collage workshop extends the invitation beyond viewing: into making, symbolism, and self-expression—reminding us that healing is not only a private act, but also a cultural one, nurtured in community.