ART is good for you!

Posted by LDFA on November 28, 2025

As explained in The Guardian article, “Picture of health: going to art galleries can improve wellbeing”, a study led by King’s College London reveals viewing original works of art can relieve stress, cut heart disease risk and boost immune system. Researchers found that levels of the stress hormone cortisol fell by an average of 22% among those viewing original art, compared with just 8% looking at reproductions. This unique and original study provides compelling evidence that viewing art in a gallery is good for you and helps to further our understanding of its fundamental benefits. In essence, art doesn’t just move us emotionally – it calms the body too.

Read the article here.

Visit us to view Helen Tiernan’s current exhibition and feel good about your health!

The Gallery is open Tues – Fri 10am – 6pm or by appointment.

Helen S. Tiernan New Exhibition Opening Sat 22 November at 2.30pm Two Views: As Above, So Below

Posted by LDFA on November 20, 2025

Join us at the Gallery to celebrate with artist Helen S. Tiernan at the opening of her new exhibition Two Views: As Above, So Below to be officially opened by Rosemary Forde, Visual Arts and Cultural Development Officer, Bass Shire Council.

Preview the exhibition on our website and download the illustrated catalogue.

Please RSVP to ausart@diggins.com.au

Helen Tiernan’s new exhibition presents us with different rhythms of the same song. She is an artist eager to impart key messages through her practice, anchored in both her indigenous and European heritage, the experiences and culture equally from her life and her studies of art history. Her artwork is layered, imbued with a meld of indigenous and western learnings and understandings. At its heart, is story-telling, from Aboriginal songlines to western classics and her message is centrally about land, sea and sky – the totality – and about people, identity and place.

The layering of meaning throughout Tiernan’s opus give her paintings a pulsating quality. These recent whale paintings encapsulate her recent environmental concerns, particularly the pollution of sea country, including noise pollution. The bands across these canvases are representative of this sonic sound pollution; but are also echo waves of communication and indigenous songlines of journey – different rhythms of the same song.