CASSANDRA BIRD
Janet Laurence , Australia
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"Once Were Forests"
Janet Laurence "Climate Puzzle" (Once Were Forests series), 2026 Chromagenic images on shinkolite 100 x 200 cm 39 3/8 x 78 3/4 in copyright the artist
CASSANDRA BIRD PARIS, supported by ZIMMERMANN, is pleased to present “Once Were Forests”, an immersive solo exhibition by internationally renowned Australian artist Janet Laurence. Featuring a major installation alongside a new body of artworks, the exhibition brings together sculpture, painting, and photography in a sensory environment shaped by transparency and reflection.
Laurence’s artwork engages with ice, forest, and water as carriers of time, memory, and life, tracing threads between ancient ecologies, the present state of nature, and possible future ecologies. Within the exhibition, forest and ice are inseparable: one preserves, the other transforms; one remembers, the other lives. Together, they form a network of relationships, a living archive of entangled life systems spanning leaves, insects, branches, animals, pollen, people, seeds, soils, and fungi, each a record within a larger cosmos, held in the past and rediscovered in the present.
At its core, a large-scale installation anchors the exhibition, surrounded by works that unfold as a constellation of fragile, interrelated moments. Soundscapes drawn from Australian forests and birdsong deepen a sense of stillness, inviting visitors into a space where time appears suspended. Through the interplay of organic and ephemeral materials, Laurence reflects on cycles of transformation and care. Ice preserves traces of forest memory, while water reshapes and renews them, suggesting an unwritten history of what has been, what remains, and what may yet unfold. Once Were Forests draws on Antarctica’s deep past as part of Gondwana, when the continent sustained lush forest ecosystems. Today’s icy landscape stands as a powerful marker of change. Bridging past and present, the exhibition invites reflection on what has been lost, what endures, and what futures are still possible.
Solo show of Janet Laurence
From April 15 to July 12, 2026
The gallery
CASSANDRA BIRD PARIS, supported by ZIMMERMANN, is pleased to present Once Were Forests, an immersive solo exhibition by internationally renowned Australian artist Janet Laurence. Featuring a major installation alongside a new body of artworks, the exhibition brings together sculpture, painting, and photography in a sensory environment shaped by transparency and reflection.
Laurence’s artwork engages with ice, forest, and water as carriers of time, memory, and life, tracing threads between ancient ecologies, the present state of nature, and possible future ecologies. Within the exhibition, forest and ice are inseparable: one preserves, the other transforms; one remembers, the other lives. Together, they form a network of relationships, a living archive of entangled life systems spanning leaves, insects, branches, animals, pollen, people, seeds, soils, and fungi, each a record within a larger cosmos, held in the
past and rediscovered in the present.
At its core, a large-scale installation anchors the exhibition, surrounded by works that unfold as a constellation of fragile, interrelated moments. Soundscapes drawn from Australian forests and birdsong deepen a sense of stillness, inviting visitors into a space where time appears suspended. Through the interplay of organic and ephemeral materials, Laurence reflects on cycles of transformation and care. Ice preserves traces of forest memory, while water reshapes and renews them, suggesting an unwritten history of what has been, what remains, and what may yet unfold. Once Were Forests draws on Antarctica’s deep past as part of Gondwana, when the continent sustained lush forest ecosystems. Today’s icy landscape stands as a powerful marker of change. Bridging past and present, the exhibition invites reflection on what has been lost, what endures, and what futures are still possible.
Gallery artists
Gene A'Hern, Robby Bennett, Tennant Creek Brio, Remy Faint, Janet Laurence, Juanita McLauchlan, Danie Mellor, Mel O'Callaghan, Jessica Rankin
