Masterworks Opening: Visions of the Vernacular: Architecture in the Masterworks Collection

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Masterworks Exhibition: Visions of the Vernacular: Architecture in the Masterworks Collection

Visions of the Vernacular: Architecture in the Masterworks Collection
in the Butterfield Gallery
May 2 September 12, 2026

Architecture is a crucial component of what makes Bermuda so historically and visually unique. Throughout the Island's modern history, local and visiting artists have reflected this by foregrounding Bermuda's architectural vernacular as a subject in their work – studying, celebrating, and re-interpreting its forms. Visions of the Vernacular: Architecture in the Masterworks Collection presents selected works of art from the Permanent Collection, dating from the early nineteenth century to the present day, which illustrate the distinctive character of Bermuda houses and the Island's broader built landscape.

Visions of the Vernacular: Architecture in the Masterworks Collection highlights fundamental elements of Bermudian architecture which artists in the Permanent Collection represent from a variety of perspectives depicting the geometric patterns of rooflines, the half-secluded spaces of verandas, and the framing forms of gates and pillars. These images invite the viewer to consider the social functions and symbolic meanings of these and other vernacular architectural features, as understood by the people living within and around them as well as the artists illustrating them.

The exhibition is complemented by a participatory installation by Kimberley Fisher, functioning as both a workshop and shared art-making space. The installation encourages reflection on vernacular forms as spaces of memory, identity, and lived experience.

Opening Date: Saturday, May 2, with an opening reception on Friday, May 1 from 5:30-7pm.

Visions of the Vernacular: Architecture in the Masterworks Collection was curated by Dr Sara Thom and Max Grainge. The exhibition will be on display from May 2 September 12, 2026.

 

Masterworks Artist Talk: Palimpsest by Meg Walters

Palimpsest Artist Talk with Meg Walters | Saturday, May 2 | 11am 12:30pm

Join us on Saturday, May 2 for an Artist Talk with Meg Walters. We'll explore the works featured in Palimpsest and offer insight into Walters' techniques and creative practice. Enjoy an open, engaging dialogue and a deeper look into her process.

Palimpsest presents a body of work shaped by a life lived between Bermuda and Australia. Through layered imagery and painterly gestures, this exhibition explores impermanence, displacement, and the evolving idea of home. Walters offers a contemporary perspective on Bermuda's landscape, filtered through distance, memory, and dual belonging.

Artist Statement:
My upcoming exhibition with Masterworks is a visual collection of places and stories. Having spent half of my life in Bermuda and half of my life in Australia, the transient imagery is meant to impart a sense of impermanence.  Fleeting moments, not quite fully distilled, float across the canvas to invoke the impression of never completely belonging to one place or another. The idea of 'home' is questioned as well as an inquiry into our connection to place and ourselves.

Being able to showcase my work in Bermuda after building a career in Australia over the past eight years is a significant landmark for me. My time living off the island has allowed me to interrogate the landscape and history of Bermuda from a lens of objectivity, integrating my own Australasian perspective. I look forward to sharing a uniquely contemporary take on Bermuda and its landscape and people.

– Meg Walters

Artist Bio:
Meg Walters is an emerging multi-disciplinary artist from Bermuda who now lives and works in Newcastle, NSW (Mulubinba). She has been a finalist in The Glover Prize, The Portia Geach Memorial Art Award, The Fisher Ghost Art Prize, The Hawkesbury Art Prize and she will be a participating in the 2026 Bundanon Residency. She has held ten solo shows and her works are held in private and public collections in Australia and internationally.

Walters received her Foundation Diploma in Fine Art from Chelsea College in London followed by a Bachelor of Arts (Illustration) from Newcastle University, Australia. More recently, she continued her studies at Byron School of Arts in Northern NSW before returning to Newcastle where she now lives and works with her partner and two children.

Register by clicking here.

Masterworks Exhibition: Palimpsest by Meg Walters

Palimpsest | May 1, 2026 June 27, 2026

Key Dates:
Opening Reception (click to RSVP): Friday, May 1 | 5:30 7pm
Artist Talk (click to RSVP): Saturday, May 2 | 11am-12:30pm

Palimpsest presents a body of work shaped by a life lived between Bermuda and Australia. Through layered imagery and painterly gestures, this exhibition explores impermanence, displacement, and the evolving idea of home. Walters offers a contemporary perspective on Bermuda's landscape, filtered through distance, memory, and dual belonging.

Artist Statement:
My upcoming exhibition with Masterworks is a visual collection of places and stories. Having spent half of my life in Bermuda and half of my life in Australia, the transient imagery is meant to impart a sense of impermanence.  Fleeting moments, not quite fully distilled, float across the canvas to invoke the impression of never completely belonging to one place or another. The idea of 'home' is questioned as well as an inquiry into our connection to place and ourselves.

Being able to showcase my work in Bermuda after building a career in Australia over the past eight years is a significant landmark for me. My time living off the island has allowed me to interrogate the landscape and history of Bermuda from a lens of objectivity, integrating my own Australasian perspective. I look forward to sharing a uniquely contemporary take on Bermuda and its landscape and people.

– Meg Walters

Artist Bio:
Meg Walters is an emerging multi-disciplinary artist from Bermuda who now lives and works in Newcastle, NSW (Mulubinba). She has been a finalist in The Glover Prize, The Portia Geach Memorial Art Award, The Fisher Ghost Art Prize, The Hawkesbury Art Prize and she will be a participating in the 2026 Bundanon Residency. She has held ten solo shows and her works are held in private and public collections in Australia and internationally.

Walters received her Foundation Diploma in Fine Art from Chelsea College in London followed by a Bachelor of Arts (Illustration) from Newcastle University, Australia. More recently, she continued her studies at Byron School of Arts in Northern NSW before returning to Newcastle where she now lives and works with her partner and two children.