Shelley McKenzie studied Art and Art Therapy. Her practice is underpinned by the therapeutic benefits of making art and its ability to mobilise aspects of being. The immersive experience of living on 100 acres of bushland outside Geelong is reflected in the themes and motifs of her work. Her work explores the natural environment, the home, the domestic environment and objects as holding places. Objects real and imagined are placed in space; shapes and patterns are simultaneously part of the physical environment and emotional geography. An admirer of the work of Matisse for its joyous use of colour, textured interiors and organisation of space, McKenzie continues to explore the immediately of her world through the push and pull of layers of paint.