Spotlight Series August 2026: Lindee Russell - The Threads That Run Through
The threads that run through Lindee Russell's art extend from literal fibres to her many social connections within the community.
From stitches and mixed media, this Narrandera-based artist has been transforming materials into richly textured artworks that evoke memory, landscape and belonging. Her practices are as much about a finished object as they are a product of relationships, for she is a multidisciplinary practitioner who cultivates conversations and shared experiences.
Artist Lindee Russell immersed in her work at the NACNET Art Space, Photo courtesy of Jason Richardson, July 2026
Russell has established herself within the Riverina and, in recent years, her art has extended from embellishing fabrics to repurposing recycled materials – seemingly as easily as conversations around a kettle.
The results bring an intimacy to exhibition spaces. They are also often surprising, such as her memorable reuse of tea bags to demonstrate new potential from everyday debris.
An award like the Joyce Spencer Fellowship seems an appropriate accolade for Lindee Russell, as Spencer has been quoted as saying “Nothing is safe from my paintbrush.”
Visitors to Lindee's workspace in the town's Artshub find it easy to become entwined in contributing to the current Threaded Selves project. During a recent visit the old Railway Station’s doors opened onto a friendly group engaging with wire frames, cotton padding and colourful details that Lindee envisions will form female shapes housed in sardine cans.
Connectedness, she argued, is the role of art. “The viewer will experience their own emotions. We are all unique. It can express hard subject matter in a way that will impact an individual, a group and a community. Every artist has their own unique style. It can be confronting and often misunderstood."
It is this potential for multiple layers of meaning to co-exist that Lindee describes as "the magic of art."
While discussing this developing exhibition it is interesting to hear how she accommodates the perspectives of other participants to ensure the process remains meaningful to each of them. Initially the use of cotton to pad the figurative sculptures was proposed as a comment on the sense of safety offered to those growing up in a small town, until she learned that was not an experience shared by some other collaborators. Lindee acknowledges that artworks have a habit of revealing themselves to those creating them, which must sometimes test her skills as a facilitator.
Lindee by the river, Photo Courtesy of Jason Richardson, July 2026
"I always seem to gather people," she observed. "I'm very good at sharing and happy to do so. If people feel they can't, then it's good to be able to show them. There are no dumb ideas and expressing them can lead to new directions."
Comments from her contemporaries demonstrate the high regard they have for Lindee's practice.
"She is a delight!" enthused Kathleen Foster. "A session with Lindee is always fun and productive, but at the same time she creates a safe and supportive environment in which to try something new or different. And she is never short of ideas!"
"Over the years Lindee has been very generous in delivering fun, free or low cost workshops sharing an array of skills through her involvement with Narrandera Arts & Creative Network," said Julie Briggs, whose role in promoting regional art has included serving as the inaugural Chair of Western Riverina Arts. A sense of how art can cement across generations seemed apparent as I watched Julie bring a grandchild to share the activity.
Despite Lindee's prolific creativity, there's a sense the title of artist sits uneasily with her.
“People referred to me as an artist long before I considered myself one. When I came back to Narrandera in 2013 I began to immerse myself into its creative community and it was only then that I began to identify as an artist. I always just felt I was creative.”
Reflecting on the progress of Lindee’s creative practices and community-building, she clearly gained a significant opportunity working with The CAD Factory. Nearly a decade before receiving the Joyce Spencer Fellowship that is administered by the artist-led organisation in partnership with Western Riverina Arts and the Spencer family, she was one of many when the Narrandera community were invited to collaborate on a large-scale installation and performance called On Common Ground.
Detail shot of the NACNET Stitchup wallhanging collaborative work 2025, Photo Credit: A Whitehead Western Riverina Arts
Fabric on that site took many forms, including kites, quilts and an extensive variety of eco-dyed sheets that were the result of workshops with locals and visiting artist Nicole Barakat.
"That was amazing. I think it was the first thing that I got involved in when I returned to Narrandera,” said Lindee of that experience. "I so admire Nicole and what she does, and the CAD Factory had engaged her to lead a component of that. She just let me run with my ideas, and we're forever learning. Nicole Barakat gave me an insight into textile art, signifying it as an art form and that had a significant impact on my practice."
The collaboration between them continued with works exhibited at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney to make textile and video artworks for their Design Festival in 2016. That work was later shown in the Narrandera Travelling Stock Route for Shadow Places in 2017.
“It's been inspiring to watch Lindee really develop her vision and hone her technical and project skills over the last number of years to lead and create these complex collaborative artworks for Narrandera Arts and Creative Network,” observed The CAD Factory’s Sarah McEwan. “She is an incredible local artist who brings a lot to the community. She is deeply passionate about Narrandera being a vibrant and creative place to live, and she enacts this through her creative process being open to all.”
"I don’t create art for others; it comes from within. Art is subjective," she replied and identified that her practices "allow me unique time with myself, creating from within — and gives me balance."
Bringing together people and materials to promote friendship is an activity she pursued before returning to her hometown. “I have held quite intense jobs in the corporate world and often there wasn’t much time for art,” said Lindee. “I formed a small, eclectic group of women and we’d meet at my place monthly to create art in many different forms.”
Mental health stability is one of the benefits that Lindee identified from this combination of social and creative practise. “When my son passed away in 2012, life dramatically changed. I found art kept me going. The solitude and comfort it gave me allowed me to breathe.”
Following the literal thread of her activities reveals that the use of textiles was one of her earliest mediums. "When I was a young child I created clothes for my dolls and later for myself. Creating my own designs is always important to me, and this has reflected in my art practice."
One impression taken from her solo exhibition is that Lindee interrogates materials for their potential in art. A piece made from teabags, for example, offered an insight into this process while also framing their rich colour.
"My poor mother! When we were creating that exhibition, she would ask, 'Can't we just throw some of this away?'" She laughed at the memory. "I encourage everyone to reuse or repurpose an item into an artwork. We have so much stuff in the world that I think it's important to recycle items."
Living in a regional setting has given Lindee other benefits.
Pictured: Lindee Russell, Photo courtesy of Jason Richardson, July 2026
"You have more time, and I'm saying that based on living in Canberra for 25 years," she observed. "I'd had significant changes in my life, so moving back to Narrandera allowed me more time to create. It also changed how I used time, because you can't always just go to a store to get materials."
However, another benefit of being part of the local landscape means the materials often find her, as well as introducing new techniques that have seen Lindee's creativity continue to grow along with the group of collaborators.
"The sense of community means you have people ask what you're doing, and that provides a focus on creating," she said, and it is a testament to her artistic practice that it fashions so many friendships.
Article by Jason Richardson, 27.07.26, Commissioned by Western Riverina Arts.
AI Declaration: No AI was used in the writing of this article.
