Rohan first found inspiration to become an artist in Édouard Vuillard’s Interior, Mother and Sister of the Artist, from 1893 – depicting two female figures, one seated in the centre and the other pressing herself awkwardly against the wall, almost disintegrating into the wallpaper. Her patterns bear traces of the enchanting rural landscape of southeast Queensland and 19th century books. The stories in those books latently find their way into her work, which pursues the moments where reality and imagination intersect. Praised by Virginia Woolf for her poignant emotional narrative, Charlotte Brontë’s Villette is one of those books Rohan still cherishes.

Reflecting on her connection with nature, the Disappearing Act series refers to the role of paintings in how we experience landscapes, to reveal the artist’s anxieties and concerns about the lands under threat. Disembodied hands slowly draw back the suspended patterned curtains, inviting the viewer to a heavenly scenery, laden with uncertainty, that shifts between despair and serenity.