Where the earth trembles, 2025

There is a storm in this one, not the kind that rips through trees, but the quiet kind that brews inside your chest when you’re holding too much. The layered strokes mirror the build and weight of unspoken feelings, a landscape straining under pressure yet refusing to break. It is the moment of resistance where the trembling earth holds its breath before release. This feels like many personal moments during motherhood on particularly tougher seasons. Amongst the darkness there will always be lightness after all the emotions are released.

Lena Baumgartner is self-taught and creates large scale abstract expressive works. Looking at Lena’s works and you feel everything first – bold colours, soft gesture and the pulse of emotion. She creates thick, texturally brush strokes that you want to reach out and touch. She often pairs striking and contrasting colours together to provoke emotional responses when viewing her artwork from afar. Her practice is mood-led with restless days drawing in the greens and blues while frenetic days are filled with vibrant pinks or even muted neutrals. Sometimes the compositions are clean, other times they’re messy and alive. She has actively participated in both solo and group exhibitions, showcasing her talent and unique way of mixing and blending colours on canvas. You can also see her artwork on the South Australian Renmark Gin brand – 23rd Street, Mulberry Gin bottle.