Emily ten Raa’s solo exhibition, Seedlings of Hope, officially opens on Sunday 20 September 2026, previewing from 14 September.

In the time she’s spent volunteering at Trillion Trees’ Hazelmere nursery, Emily ten Raa has made close to 200 drawings of the seedling species propagated there. These sketches inform the exhibition’s larger paintings, oil on salvaged jarrah/djarraly floorboards. Some stand alone; others are arranged side by side to form a single composition.

The sketches are botanical studies, each seedling’s form and structure keenly observed, while her paintings evolve into landscape, focusing on the ecosystem the seedlings grow into.

One large painting, a composition of boards hung side by side, depicts the river area at Trillion Trees, where an old Eucalyptus rudis stands among seedlings planted by the community. ten Raa describes the scene as a literal “grounds for hope”.

Alongside the paintings, the exhibition includes ten Raa’s original sketches. These are available as large prints of arranged drawings, or as a bespoke selection chosen and printed to order.

The exhibition is a fundraiser for Trillion Trees Australia.